How a Labor Defense Lawyer and #MeToo Won $1.5M for PBS
"With the backdrop of the #MeToo movement, and PBS's unyielding commitment to stand up for what was right, the case was so much more than the interpretation of contracts," said Morgan, Lewis & Bockius partner Grace Speights.
March 05, 2020 at 08:02 PM
4 minute read
It was a trial to remember for Morgan, Lewis & Bockius partner Grace Speights, lead defense attorney for PBS against Tavis Smiley—and not just because she defeated a million-dollar labor and employment claim against her client in a high-profile case.
She also won a million and a half—and she did it with a hundred-year-old movie morals contract clause that no one seems to remember ever using before.
"This was a landmark case, both in terms of the precedent-setting nature of testing the morals clause in contracts before a jury, and by the fact that our client was the one being sued by someone accused of sexual misconduct," Speights told the National Law Journal by email Thursday as she flew to the West Coast for a client meeting.
But she'll be back in Washington before D.C. Superior Court Judge Yvonne Williams for a status conference next Wednesday to discuss what to do now. The $1.486 million the jury awarded Wednesday wasn't the end of the story. There will be the matter of attorney fees.
Smiley's lawyers plan to appeal.
"We are disappointed in the jury's verdict but respect the process," said Smiley attorney John K. Rubiner of Barton, Klugman & Oetting in Los Angeles. "We are planning to appeal based on a variety of issues that were raised in pretrial and trial rulings."
Smiley's team also included Harvard Law School professor Ronald S. Sullivan Jr. and Jeffrey D. Robinson of Lewis Baach Kaufmann Middlemiss in Washington. They were up against more than just Speights and her team, which included W. Brad Nes, Amanda B. Robinson and Elliott Brown.
The entire #MeToo movement informed the trial, embodied by the six women who testified by video deposition that Smiley—their boss—made sexual demands on them or subjected them to lewd jokes.
Smiley denied the charges, calling them all lies, and saying sexual relationships he had with the women were consensual, according to published reports. He also said his sexual jokes were innocent and not intended to offend.
But the women won the day with the jury. "This wasn't just 'he said, she said,' " wrote Washington Post reporter Keith Alexander, quoting one of the 10 men on the jury. "This was 'he said, she said, she said, she said, she said, she said, she said.' "
The story started in 2017 at the height of the #MeToo movement. PBS fired Smiley—and another host, Charlie Rose—after investigating a series of employee complaints of sexual harassment. Smiley sued PBS for breach of contract, demanding $1 million he said he should have been paid. PBS countersued, saying he had been paid for shows he didn't produce. Ultimately, PBS alleged Smiley's conduct violated the contract's morals clause, which prohibits on-air talent from participating in behavior that would negatively affect the network's reputation.
"Over the course of two years, we were able to get several aspects of the case dismissed, so what came before the jury were contract claims by both sides," Speights said. "But with the backdrop of the #MeToo movement, and PBS's unyielding commitment to stand up for what was right, the case was so much more than the interpretation of contracts."
In addition to being the global head of the Morgan Lewis labor and employment practice group, Speights is a member of the firm's cross-disciplinary crisis management practice team. "Morgan Lewis has always recognized the importance of employing a strategic and business-focused approach to addressing client matters," she said. "My team on this case each brought their own unique and complementary trial skills to the table to mitigate the long-term public relations impact of such a high-profile case."
The end result will affect far more than this case, according to Speights.
"PBS stood up for the women who were brave enough to share their stories and went to tremendous lengths to protect its hard-earned brand and reputation for public trust," Speights said. "Ultimately the case has given employers another tool in their arsenal to ensure a safe and respectful workplace culture."
This content has been archived. It is available through our partners, LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law.
To view this content, please continue to their sites.
Not a Lexis Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
Not a Bloomberg Law Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
NOT FOR REPRINT
© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
You Might Like
View All'New Circumstances': Winston & Strawn Seek Expedited Relief in NASCAR Antitrust Lawsuit
3 minute read'Possible Harm'?: Winston & Strawn Will Appeal Unfavorable Ruling in NASCAR Antitrust Lawsuit
3 minute read'Rampant Piracy': US Record Labels File Copyright Suit Against French Distributor Believe
5 minute readWho Got the Work: Latham & Watkins and Shumaker Defend NASCAR in Antitrust Case
4 minute readLaw Firms Mentioned
Trending Stories
- 1King & Spalding E-Discovery Director Jumps to Nebraska Women-Owned Firm
- 2Nation's Largest Utility Parts Ways With CLO Who Helped It Navigate Bribery Scandal
- 3Advocates Renew Campaign for Immigrant Right to Counsel in New York
- 4From ‘Unregulated’ to ‘A Matter of Great Concern’: PFAS Regulation under Biden
- 5Public Interest Lawyers in NY Fear Rollback of Federal Loan Assistance in '25, Ask Gov. to Add $4M to State Program
Who Got The Work
Michael G. Bongiorno, Andrew Scott Dulberg and Elizabeth E. Driscoll from Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr have stepped in to represent Symbotic Inc., an A.I.-enabled technology platform that focuses on increasing supply chain efficiency, and other defendants in a pending shareholder derivative lawsuit. The case, filed Oct. 2 in Massachusetts District Court by the Brown Law Firm on behalf of Stephen Austen, accuses certain officers and directors of misleading investors in regard to Symbotic's potential for margin growth by failing to disclose that the company was not equipped to timely deploy its systems or manage expenses through project delays. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Nathaniel M. Gorton, is 1:24-cv-12522, Austen v. Cohen et al.
Who Got The Work
Edmund Polubinski and Marie Killmond of Davis Polk & Wardwell have entered appearances for data platform software development company MongoDB and other defendants in a pending shareholder derivative lawsuit. The action, filed Oct. 7 in New York Southern District Court by the Brown Law Firm, accuses the company's directors and/or officers of falsely expressing confidence in the company’s restructuring of its sales incentive plan and downplaying the severity of decreases in its upfront commitments. The case is 1:24-cv-07594, Roy v. Ittycheria et al.
Who Got The Work
Amy O. Bruchs and Kurt F. Ellison of Michael Best & Friedrich have entered appearances for Epic Systems Corp. in a pending employment discrimination lawsuit. The suit was filed Sept. 7 in Wisconsin Western District Court by Levine Eisberner LLC and Siri & Glimstad on behalf of a project manager who claims that he was wrongfully terminated after applying for a religious exemption to the defendant's COVID-19 vaccine mandate. The case, assigned to U.S. Magistrate Judge Anita Marie Boor, is 3:24-cv-00630, Secker, Nathan v. Epic Systems Corporation.
Who Got The Work
David X. Sullivan, Thomas J. Finn and Gregory A. Hall from McCarter & English have entered appearances for Sunrun Installation Services in a pending civil rights lawsuit. The complaint was filed Sept. 4 in Connecticut District Court by attorney Robert M. Berke on behalf of former employee George Edward Steins, who was arrested and charged with employing an unregistered home improvement salesperson. The complaint alleges that had Sunrun informed the Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection that the plaintiff's employment had ended in 2017 and that he no longer held Sunrun's home improvement contractor license, he would not have been hit with charges, which were dismissed in May 2024. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Jeffrey A. Meyer, is 3:24-cv-01423, Steins v. Sunrun, Inc. et al.
Who Got The Work
Greenberg Traurig shareholder Joshua L. Raskin has entered an appearance for boohoo.com UK Ltd. in a pending patent infringement lawsuit. The suit, filed Sept. 3 in Texas Eastern District Court by Rozier Hardt McDonough on behalf of Alto Dynamics, asserts five patents related to an online shopping platform. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Rodney Gilstrap, is 2:24-cv-00719, Alto Dynamics, LLC v. boohoo.com UK Limited.
Featured Firms
Law Offices of Gary Martin Hays & Associates, P.C.
(470) 294-1674
Law Offices of Mark E. Salomone
(857) 444-6468
Smith & Hassler
(713) 739-1250