Judge Rejects Suit Over Actors Guild Negotiator

A federal judge threw out a lawsuit alleging that A. Robert Pisano had a conflict of interest as chief labor negotiator for the Screen Actors Guild because he serves as a director of the online video rental service Netflix Inc.

Judge R. Gary Klausner in Los Angeles said the two SAG members who brought the lawsuit failed to show evidence that there was a conflict or that Pisano ever acted in a manner to harm the union. Klausner also concluded that SAG and Netflix were sufficiently unrelated to allow someone to hold positions in both without conflict.

Pisano was given a vote of confidence in October by SAG’s board after some members raised the issue. Whether studios should share a bigger piece of their DVD revenue with actors has been a major topic in the two groups’ labor talks.