According to Reuters, an actor who was fired on his first day of paternity leave from The Lion King’s North American Touring Production is suing Disney, accusing them of violating the New York State and City Human Rights Laws.
What’s Happening:
- William James Jr, an ensemble player and understudy for the leading role of Mufasa for nearly three years, alleged in a complaint filed Thursday that he was also fired "in part" in retaliation for complaining about “bullying” behavior and “unwelcome advances” by the production’s director.
- The company told James that it had investigated his harassment claims and found them baseless, but he accuses it of “sweeping (his) complaints under the rug” and of firing him “in the most callous way at the most unreasonable time” in order to send a message to other employees.
- The “clear message” was “to not engage in protected activity and to not seek paternity leave at The Lion King Production,” James’s attorneys at Phillips & Associates wrote in the complaint filed in state Supreme Court in New York County.
- James is suing Disney Theatrical Group (DTG); its immediate parent company, Disney Studios Content; and several individuals, including Tour Production Director Ameenah Kaplan.
- According to the complaint, James joined the North American tour in 2017. Kaplan became its director in 2018.
- James says Kaplan began “unreasonably” berating him in February 2019 and threatening to limit his lucrative main-role performances, while also flirting and inviting him out for drinks. His complaints to Employee Relations and several managers throughout the year proved futile, leading Kaplan to publicly “taunt” him that December and provoke an argument for which James alone was reprimanded, he alleges.
- James performed with the tour until starting paternity leave on March 9th, 2020. The production’s general manager called him that same day to terminate his contract without giving any reason, James says.
- James says he filed a grievance with his union, which investigated and deemed his claims “corroborated,” but DTG refused to rehire him when the tour resumed in October 2021.