In today’s News & Commentary, Equity and the Broadway League resume talks amid a looming strike; a federal judge lets a recovering alcoholic’s ADA suit proceed; and Philadelphia agrees to pay $40,000 to resolve a First Amendment retaliation case.
This week, the Actors’ Equity Association—Broadway’s union for performers and stage managers—resumes negotiations with Broadway League, which represents producers and theater owners, in an effort to avert a strike after more than a week without a contract. According to the union, health-care funding is the central concern: Equity claims that producer contributions to the health care fund have remained flat at about $150 per person per week for the last decade, and the union warns the health fund may be running a deficit as early as this May. A strike would shutter about 26 productions, as well as the incoming Purple Rain musical. The talks follow a record $1.89 billion Broadway season, even as many post-pandemic musicals still struggle to turn a profit.
Meanwhile, a federal judge in the Eastern District of Kentucky allowed a plaintiff’s Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) claims to proceed against her former employer, including allegations that the employer failed to reasonably accommodate her alcohol addiction. The plaintiff, Traci Depew Hughes, alleged that she had been sober for 19 years when Certified Flooring Inc. (CFI) began hosting wine-and-cheese events and later announced an office move to a building near a liquor...
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