A federal class-action lawsuit alleging top animation studios conspired to suppress wages has been dismissed.
In a ruling issued April 3, U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh cited the statute of limitations in dismissing the complaint, which was filed by former DreamWorks senior character effects artist Robert Nitsch, former ImageMovers Digital production engineer David Wentworth and digital artist Georgia Cano, who held jobs at Rhythm & Hues, Walt Disney Feature Animation and ImageMovers Digital.
The suit was filed against DreamWorks Animation, The Walt Disney Co., Sony Imageworks, ImageMovers, Blue Sky Studios, Lucasfilm and Pixar.
The ruling stated that the plaintiffs failed to show any actions taken by the studios after Sept. 8, 2010, which is the cutoff for the statute of limitations.
The plaintiffs are free to amend their complaint and have 30 days to do so. The judge also said that the studios must still comply with discovery requests.
