The five co-stars of Paramount's comedy series "Becker" have taken their salary dispute to court, filing a breach-of-contract lawsuit against the studio Tuesday.
The suit on behalf of Terry Farrell, Hattie Winston, Alex Desert, Shawnee Smith and Saverio Guerra was filed in Los Angeles Superior Court.
The move comes after the actors' reps have tried unsuccessfully to negotiate salary bumps for the supporting cast of the CBS series, which is going into its fourth season. The tension between the two sides escalated in August when the five actors called in sick on the show's first day of production. Sources said the quintet is not expected to return to work while the suit is pending.
The suit claims that "despite (the five actors') tremendous contribution to a first-class show, Paramount's Television Group has treated these cast members as second-class citizens."
In line with widespread industry practice, the quintet requested negotiation on salary increases after the show's second season in the summer of 2000, the suit says. The complaint claims that the actors received written assurances from the studio on Aug. 4, 2000, that the studio would negotiate for a pay boost. The suit claims the studio agreed that the increase would kick in at the beginning the fourth season of "Becker" and the agreement was not conditioned on the sale of the show in syndication or any other factors.
In the past year, Paramount has taken a firm stance of deferring salary negotiations until the show's sale in syndication, which was expected to happen late last year but was postponed until spring and is now expected to be done in the fall.
"Paramount lulled the plaintiffs into acquiescence by expressly promising to renegotiate their compensation starting with the series' fourth season, but has since repeatedly reneged on this agreement in bad faith," the complaint says.
The suit, filed by Stanton Stein of Alschuler Grossman Stein & Kahan Llp., seeks unspecified damages. Paramount declined comment Tuesday.
A federal appeals
court apparently was shaken but not stirred by a writer's claim that he
deserved royalties for bringing the fictional secret agent James Bond to the
silver screen.
In a court ruling
reading more like a spy novel than a legal document, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court
of Appeals dismissed the lawsuit of Kevin McClory on Monday, saying he took too
long to make his claim against Danjaq Productions, distributors of Bond films.
``A hero, seeking
to redeem his stolen fortune. The villainous organization that stands in his
way. Mystery! International intrigue! And now, not least of all, the dusty
corners of the ancient law of equity,'' wrote Judge Margaret McKeown.
McClory alleged
in a 1998 suit that he had the right to the novel ``Thunderball,'' all
materials developed during the writing of the initial ``Thunderball'' script
and royalties generated by seven other Bond movies released from 1962-1977.
But the appeals
court affirmed a lower court's dismissal, saying McClory had done little to
assert his legal rights to the ``Thunderball'' movie for more than 35 years.
A phone message
left for McClory seeking comment was not immediately returned.
McClory, who collaborated
with novelist Ian Fleming in the late 1950s to write scripts that later helped
make Fleming's Bond character a movie icon, said Fleming's efforts to transform
Agent 007 into a film character failed until he retooled the roguish operative.
But Fleming had
broken ranks with McClory by 1961, when he published his eighth Bond novel,
``Thunderball.''
``Thunderball''
was supposed to be the first Bond film, but after McClory sued, ``Dr. No'' was
filmed and released instead. Fleming settled in 1963, giving McClory some
rights to ``Thunderball.''