Judge rules in favor of three fired Disney castmembers

[Disney Analyst]

http://www.clickorlando.com/news/arbitrator-rules-in-favor-of-disney-workers/32611852

I think this is absolutely great! I remember this story from almost a year ago. My friend's friend lost his job. Good for them!

 

[ItlngrlBella]

How many shows/day? Can't they have a few sets of each and clean them at night for the next day? Gross.

 

[peter11435]

How many shows/day? Can't they have a few sets of each and clean them at night for the next day? Gross.

They do have many sets of each.

 

[Disney Analyst]

As far as I know, Festival of the Lion King is an equity show. Per equity rules, any costume that touches skin must be cleaned between each performance, or a clean costume must be provided. This was not the case, and they spoke out. In any case, I think it's good practice to always have a clean costume between shows, they are dancing up a storm... Disney is all about Safety, and Safety is most certainly an aspect of that.

 

[thomas998]

They do have many sets of each.

The real question is how often do they have them cleaned. Even if they had 20 different costumes if they never clean them they would be pretty nasty after a while.

 

[ItlngrlBella]

You'd think they get cleaned at night and rotate clean sets in and dirty sets out during the day - otherwise it sounds like like a nasty skin condition waiting to happen.

 

[peter11435]

As far as I know, Festival of the Lion King is an equity show. Per equity rules, any costume that touches skin must be cleaned between each performance, or a clean costume must be provided. This was not the case, and they spoke out. In any case, I think it's good practice to always have a clean costume between shows, they are dancing up a storm... Disney is all about Safety, and Safety is most certainly an aspect of that.

This article leaves out pretty much all details. You are correct that they are required to provide a clean costume for each performance. In this case there were clean costumes ready for the show but a rack of dirty costumes had been pushed up against the rack of clean costumes. The costumes they refused to wear had not been previously worn but they touched costumes that had.

I'm glad they got their jobs backs.

 

[peter11435]

The real question is how often do they have them cleaned. Even if they had 20 different costumes if they never clean them they would be pretty nasty after a while.

They should get cleaned after each performance. The contract requires a minimum of 12 hours of cleaning/drying time between uses.

 

[Disney Analyst]

This article leaves out pretty much all details. You are correct that they are required to provide a clean costume for each performance. In this case there were clean costumes ready for the show but a rack of dirty costumes had been pushed up against the rack of clean costumes. The costumes they refused to wear had not been previously worn but they touched costumes that had.

I'm glad they got their jobs backs.

Ahh, so kinda like putting dirty soiled dishes next to nice clean dishes, pressing them against each other, then feeling like it's okay to serve them to guests still.

 

[peter11435]

Ahh, so kinda like putting dirty soiled dishes next to nice clean dishes, pressing them against each other, then feeling like it's okay to serve them to guests still.

Correct.

Ultimately the person who pushed the dirty costumes against the clean costumes should have recieved discipline, not the performers.

 

[MonorailLover]

Correct.

Ultimately the person who pushed the dirty costumes against the clean costumes should have recieved discipline, not the performers.

Exactly, the performers shouldn't have been fired for speaking out.

 

[ABQ]

I'm not sure of the timing of this, but did it take place prior to or after the show moved to its news theatre? Not that the theatre specifically matters, but was a new backstage area created for the performers with the move that could have prevented cross contamination between the clean and dirty costumes?

 

[peter11435]

I'm not sure of the timing of this, but did it take place prior to or after the show moved to its news theatre? Not that the theatre specifically matters, but was a new backstage area created for the performers with the move that could have prevented cross contamination between the clean and dirty costumes?

I am fairly certain this happened shortly after moving to the new theater. Possibly a result of cast and crew still getting used to the new location.

 

[Zummi Gummi]

Disney was in clear violation of Equity rules on this one. Good for the cast members for speaking up. They'll certainly be enjoying all that back pay!

 

[GrumpyFan]

Exactly, the performers shouldn't have been fired for speaking out.

I don't think that's why they were fired. I think it was due to their refusing to perform, their reason being due to the unsanitary clothing.

 

[asianway]

Disney was in clear violation of Equity rules on this one. Good for the cast members for speaking up. They'll certainly be enjoying all that back pay!

Don't they have to run firings past HR? This one seemed sketchy at best. Or do entertainment managers just go Donald Trump?

 

[Zummi Gummi]

Don't they have to run firings past HR? This one seemed sketchy at best. Or do entertainment managers just go Donald Trump?

What's really weird is that this got as far as it did. There should have been additional costumes available at the venue that weren't soiled- any equity show will have more than two of each costume available, let alone one that performs 6-8 times a day. Hoop has an entire room full of them, and you're talking about a cast of 6, versus dozens.

Equity contested it immediately (as they should have), and for whatever reason, legal/HR/management/whoever else they spoke with thought they were on sound legal ground. They weren't.

Like you said...sketchy.

 

[peter11435]

Don't they have to run firings past HR? This one seemed sketchy at best. Or do entertainment managers just go Donald Trump?

Yes but we don't know exactly what story HR heard. Remember, on paper these were clean laundered costumes.

 

[raven]

Disney was in clear violation of Equity rules on this one. Good for the cast members for speaking up. They'll certainly be enjoying all that back pay!

All $200 of it.

But I think the news said the costumes in question were for the parade. Some parade performers also perform in FOTLK. Either way, performers are to receive a fresh costume daily that it their own. I believe the issue was that the CMs costumes were pressed up against soiled costumes for most of the day and Disney management refused to issue replacements. It's a sanitary issue (aka Safety) and is something that Disney preaches very loudly about to their CMs. I'm not sure why it was a big deal not to issue them a clean costume but I'm very happy the CMs won their case.

 

[bethymouse]

ew.