Joel Vig sues Hairspray

[seaweedjstubbs]

Posted: 11/9/07 at 8:42am

Was anyone aware of this?

http://mediamore.net/entertainment/actor-sues-hairspray-over-firing/

Sorry if this has been posted before. This really suprised me.

[paphillyguy]

Posted: 11/9/07 at 9:11am

I believe it was posted before, but if he really was let go because of his injury he may have a suit but what that will do to his ability to get hired again remains to be seen.
Updated On: 11/9/07 at 09:11 AM

[DottieD'Luscia]

Posted: 11/9/07 at 10:01am

This story was carried by both MSN's website and USA Today.

[mateo]

Posted: 11/9/07 at 10:41am

yeah it was posted and bww deleted it.

[Dolly_Levi]

Posted: 11/9/07 at 10:55am

had no idea.

[MrSweetNAwful]

Posted: 11/9/07 at 1:00pm

I didn't know of that either. How upsetting. Well from how it sounds Vig has every right to seek legal help.

[SueleenGay]

Posted: 11/9/07 at 1:16pm

I am not so sure. If it went to arbitration and his claims were rejected there has to be more to the story. I am sure Equity has/had some input, too. I am interested in seeing what the terms of his contract were and what the Union said. You can't base a case on, "Well, the Management ASKED me to not have surgery so I didn't, even though my Doctor's recommended it..."

[TheatreDiva90016]

Posted: 11/9/07 at 1:45pm

It's a huge and messy story.


This isn't all of the information.


That's all I'm saying.

[Dolly_Levi]

Posted: 1/2/08 at 1:13am

hmm, no updates?

[sopranobiz]

Posted: 1/2/08 at 1:38am

This particular case has been going on for years and sadly is not an uncommon scenerio. There are two other Broadway shows with pending lawsuits due to actors claiming injuries from raked stages or set pieces.

Sadly, the very talented actors that have pursued these lawsuits haven't worked on Broadway since.


Updated On: 1/2/08 at 01:38 AM

[jbdc]

Posted: 1/2/08 at 11:16am

Now, I don't know anything specific about this case, but it seems clear where Mr. Vig made his mistake. And I don't know any stage manager who'd request he keep performing with an injury unless a doctor said that he should go back to work.

But also, you shouldn't keep performing on an injury like that.
If he was capable of doing the show for two months before the surgery, then I can see how an arbitor would rule that the surgery was not necessary after the initial injury (because he kept working), and therefore it was an elective surgery (at least legally), and actors don't get time off for elective surgeries. Of course Hairspray didn't want to pay somebody for a couple of months who wasn't performing, so they are going to fight it.

Maybe the most important thing to learn from this is to trust your pain. If you get injured, file the accident reports, get medical attention even if you might not need it, and don't perform if you might injure yourself more. Actors are proud, and we want to power through, but it's a business, and you have to look out for yourself, because ultimately, we are a dime a dozen.

I had a show related injury, and the doctors initially said I could return in 10 days. Well, it was actually about five more days after that. But fifteen days turned into a month, because you can't go back to work without a doctor's permission in the state of NY if the injury is still a problem after the initial amount of time the doctor states (10 days in my case), and they told me I had to see the same doctor, who wouldn't give me appointment for another week and a half.
Finally, after four total weeks I was back at work--and the company tried to only pay me for the ten days the doctor initially said I would miss. I contested it (because I was ready to go, but the show told me I wasn't allowed back until I had another appointment and written permission from the doctor). It went to arbitration, and I got my full four weeks of injury pay (which is a percentage of full salary). I have lawyers in the family, so I wrote down everything I did, every step of the way. Every phone call, appointment, what I was told, by whom, and when. That basically allowed me to prove my story. So they had to pay me. But the injury was in January, and I didn't get paid until October, because it took forever to get through it all.

I know first hand that red tape can be a problem for injured performers, but trust yourself, and keep very good notes with dates and times about everything that happens when you are injured. And communicate with the company manager every single day. Use the union, if you're in it, and ask lots and lots of questions.

[auzziek]

Posted: 7/25/08 at 5:10pm

Looks like he lost. From WENN:

A former star of Broadway musical Hairspray has lost his wrongful dismissal lawsuit against the show's producers.

Joel Vig, 54, sought $1.5 million (GBP750,000) alleging he was dropped from the show after hurting his knee when he fell onstage during a performance.

But a Manhattan judge ruled on Thursday that Vig - who played a number of roles and was understudy for the part of Edna Turnblad - failed to prove he lost his job because of the injury.

[uncageg]

Posted: 7/25/08 at 5:13pm

It was posted today. he lost the suit. A judge ruled that he was not let go because of his injury. It is on IBDB I think.