Appeals court rejects Broadway producer’s antitrust claim against actors’ and stage managers’ union

NEW YORK (AP) — An appeals court on Tuesday rejected an appeal by a Tony Award-winning producer who claims that a union for actors and stage managers organized an illegal boycott that prevented him from producing live Broadway shows.

The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan ruled that the producer, Garth Drabinsky, could not continue with his $50 million lawsuit alleging that the Actors’ Equity Association violated antitrust and various state laws, including defamation.

The union represents over 50,000 theater actors and stage managers.

Luke Hasskamp, a lawyer for Drabinsky, declined to comment.

Drabinsky, 74, whose hits include “Ragtime” and a 1994 revival of “Show Boat,” claimed in his lawsuit that the union engaged in an unlawful campaign of defamation and harassment by spreading rumors about him, instituting a one-day work stoppage and putting him on its Do Not Work list to discourage anyone from working with him.

“So long as the union’s conduct promotes legitimate labor goals, it retains the benefit of the labor exemption and remains impervious to antitrust liability,” the three-judge 2nd Circuit panel said in a decision written by Judge Raymond J. Lohier Jr.

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