Valerie Harper sued by Lombardo and producers...

HOW DARE SHE GET BRAIN CANCER DURING A RUN!

This is one of the most despicable things I've read recently. Then again, it IS TMZ so it could be false. But TMZ is often scarily accurate:

http://www.tmz.com/2014/04/27/valerie-harper-lawsuit-looped-matthew-lombardo/

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Updated On: 4/27/14 at 10:42 AM

Lawsuits are pubic record. What TMZ did here--which is a disservice to both Valerie Harper and Matthew Lombardo--is make it sound like the lawsuit was his evil idea.

At the bottom of the sensationalist and tabloid-despicable article is this single sentence:

Worth noting, Lombardo filed his lawsuit in response to one filed by Harper, in which she claims Lombardo failed to pay the remainder of her contract despite her illness.

If it was worth noting, it was worth noting in the opeing paragraph--or the article title!

Lombardo's suit is simply a countersuit. It's no more wrong of him to countersue than it was of her to sue. She's either entitled to the sick pay under the contract or she's not. A judge will interpret the contract and contract law to determine who if anyone should pay.

This is an example of newstories that needn't be reported, because the news oulet itself is too stupid or venal or bitchy to report it correctly.

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Why would we assume that?

"Assuming Mr Lombardo and Associates was contractually obligated to pay Ms. Harper in the event of illness it only makes him DOUBLY despicable. 1. Refusing to pay what is owed to her. 2. Suing HER for asserting her rights."

We can assume that if you wish, but it would mean she had the foresight to know that she was going to get sick and have to leave the production due to her illness and negotiate that as a separate rider. Under the Production contract she would not have worked enough weeks to accrue any sick days (if she could at all, as if you are making more than $4,250 a week then you don't accrue paid sick days). She would have been entitled to take up to one year on an unpaid medical leave, but there is nothing in the contract stating that there is any penalty to the producers if the production closes during the course of that medical leave.

Without seeing any riders/additional terms she may have negotiated I wouldn't speak with absolute certainty, but based solely on the rules laid out in the Production contract I'm not sure that her initial lawsuit against Lombardo and the producers is going to get her anything.

Some of the boys over at Data Lounge are speculating that Valerie faked her cancer diagnosis, or maybe portrayed her prognosis at worse than it was.

I'm sure Lombardo regrets a great deal about this situation. Nevertheless, once Harper sued him, he pretty much had to countersue.

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I had no problem with Valerie Harper in Looped -- it was the play that sucked.

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I doubt he gets to call the shots.

There are producers involved in the lawsuit and you are assuming Lombardo has enough votes to overrule them. There are also investors involved, to whom the producers owe a fiduciary responsibility. If the producers don't do everything in their power to protect the investment, the investors could turn around and sue the producers.

TMZ is just using Lombardo as the one they can point at and say "BAD MAN SUES RHODA FOR CANCER"--and you are all falling for TMZ's tabloid bait.

There's a contract and this is a dispute over who the interpretation of that contract. It's not about Rhoda being sued for getting cancer.

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that WILL be the appearance to Joe Sixpack and Sally Housecoat


I doubt Joe Sixpack and Sally Housecoat will care.

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There's a false assumption going on here. If you're a producer who is sued for something which has no legal basis (as is implied here) it doesn't mean you counter-sue. You simply show the contract to the judge and it is thrown out. (And counter-sue for half a million dollars?! Looped was only doing 25% of business and that was almost entirely on Ms. Harper's performance.) This is just mean by some mean people. If Stagegrade rated Mr. Lombardo's classless performance here I'm sure he'd get a F-)

Let's not forget that Valerie also sued over her Valerie's Family sitcom. She's not just poor Rhoda who got cancer. She can turn up the heat when she wants to.

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"Let's not forget that Valerie also sued over her Valerie's Family sitcom. She's not just poor Rhoda who got cancer. She can turn up the heat when she wants to."

Yes, she sued for wrongful dismissal over a quarter of a century ago and won. Isn't that what courts are for? What's your point?

Now the NY Post has it. No mention of Harper's lawsuit at all.
NY Post