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The judge has tossed out a whopping 10 of Blake Lively’s 13 claims against Justin Baldoni.
It is not, perhaps, for the reasons that some of his supporters seem to think.
Apparently, the nature of her employment and the filming location mean that she’s unable to pursue her sexual harassment claims.
Even though her retaliation lawsuit is moving forward, Baldoni’s team seems to be taking a victory lap.
Because, really, why would anything good happen
Lively accused Baldoni, both her director and co-star, of sexual harassment during the production of It Ends With Us.
She described him as having made unwelcome comments about her appearance and weight, among other things.
On Thursday, April 2, Judge Lewis Liman ruled that 10 out of 13 of Lively’s claims could not move forward.
Simply put, Lively cannot bring a sexual harassment claim under federal law because the court has determined that she was an independent contractor.
She also could not sue for sexual harassment under California law because It Ends With Us filmed in New Jersey.
To be blunt, that is a ghastly illumination of the major shortcomings of our legal system. More on that a in a moment.
Lively also accused Baldoni of hiring publicists to wage a smear campaign against her.
The goal was to both plant and amplify negative stories about her. Anyone who was on social media late in the summer of 2024 remembers how intense things were.
She says that this was clear retaliation against her.
Judge Liman ruled that the retaliation claims can proceed. That, aiding and abetting in retaliation, and breach of contract remain part of the lawsuit.
“The defendants were not afraid of the truth,” Baldoni’s attorney Bryan Freedman gushed in a statement to TMZ on Friday, April 3.
“The plan was not only to speak the truth but to also show that same truth over and over again through the presentation of actual evidence,” the statement alleged.
“Neither Justin Baldoni, Jamey Heath, nor any of the other defendants have engaged in the sexual harassment of Blake Lively,” Freedman then claimed.
“Despite our clients being accused of DARVO (Deny, Attack, Reverse Victim and Offender) in defending these claims and despite our client being referred to in writing as a predator,” the statement continued.
“What I said, on behalf of our client’s day one and every day since then is true,” Freedman alleged. “Our clients are very good people who have not engaged in this sexual harassment as alleged.”
“As such, they have deserved a vigorous defense which was led through transparency,” Freedman insisted.
He then expressed: “It is gratifying to see that the court’s ruling confirms what the legal team believed from day one.”
Just to be clear, the court’s ruling has confirmed that Lively was an independent contractor, and that It Ends With Us did not film in California.
Meanwhile, Lively’s attorney, Sigrid McCawley, said that the case “has always been and will remain focused on the devastating retaliation and the extraordinary steps the defendants took to destroy Blake Lively’s reputation.”
McCawley also emphasized: “Sexual harassment isn’t going forward, not because the defendants did nothing wrong, but because the court determined Blake Lively was an independent contractor, not an employee.”
This is an indictment of our legal system
As many on social media are pointing out, this ruling has more to do with our legal system than it does with any facts of the case — in Baldoni’s favor or in Lively’s.
Federal Title VII protections for employees allow them to sue over sexual harassment.
But an independent contractor — which can mean anything from someone hired to a one-time job to someone who’s effectively a full-time employee without the benefits — has no such recourse.
This, like the lines on a map that differentiate California from New Jersey, is a technicality. It’s not a fact of the case. It’s not justice.
If Baldoni really wants to prove his alleged innocence, this isn’t doing it. In the eyes of the public — at least, anyone reading past a headline — this may be as much of a setback for him as it is for Lively.
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: thehollywoodgossip.com
