Ferguson v. Writers Guild Of America, West

226 Cal.App.3d 1382, 277 Cal. Rptr. 450 (1991)

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Nature of the Case

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Facts

A collective bargaining agreement gave the Writers Guild (D) the power to make determinations on writing credits for films. That agreement constituted the following procedures and terms: Any dispute had to be submitted to arbitration by the Guild (D); Anonymous arbitrators were to be chosen and their decision could be appealed to D's policy review board only for deviation from D's policy or procedure, but not for matters of substance; Board approval of a determination was final. The arbitrators held no hearing but were provided with all the written materials, deliberated independently of each other, and their identities were undisclosed. Ferguson (P) was involved in a dispute over the screenplay credits on Beverly Hills Cop II. Ferguson (P) initiated arbitration proceedings to have himself declared the sole writer. D awarded P partial screenplay credit and also gave story-line credit to two other parties. P lost and appealed to the review board on the substance of the dispute and over procedural irregularities. The review board declared the determination of the partial credit to be final. P sued in state court. D argued that the collective bargaining agreement made disputes over writing credits nonjusticiable. The trial court dismissed P's case, and he appealed.