ANOTHER COURTROOM LOSS FOR SAG’S MEMBERSHIP FIRST

Yet another court has dismissed the lawsuit filed by former Screen Actors Guild President Alan Rosenberg and three other members of the hard-line Membership First faction, who claimed that the “written assent” vote to fire the union’s chief negotiator, Doug Allen. and replace the team negotiating with the Association of Motion Picture and Television Producers violated the union’s bylaws. Following the court ruling, entertainment attorney Jonathan Handel noted in a commentary distributed by the Huffington Post that the Membership Firsters did not oppose the dismissal but “crafted their document, and their statements in the courtroom, so as to tee up a motion for attorneys fees.” Rosenberg had previously claimed that attorneys were representing the plaintiffs pro bono.