It looks like the battle is set to carry onto one of the Grandest Stages of them all, no, unfortunately, this isn’t going to Wrestlemania but to the Texas Supreme Court.
Following up from October, Voice Actor Vic Mignogna and his lawyers filed a petition on November 14th with Texas’s Supreme Court to review the decision in Mignogna’s defamation suit against Funimation, voice actresses Jamie Marchi and Monica Rial, and Rial’s fiance Ron Toye.
According to a new report from Alex Mateo of Anime News Network, Although the Tarrant County District Court and the Texas Second Court of Appeals have ruled against Mignogna, the voice actor and his lawyers argue “the court of appeals upend[ed] numerous elements of established Texas law” in its ruling.
Mignogna and his lawyers argue that the previous court rulings disregarded the rule that Rule 11 agreements (which let “lawyers and parties to any lawsuit enter into a written agreement on any subject matter of the lawsuit”) are interpreted and treated as contracts, and that unambiguous contracts may not be re-written by courts. In addition, the petition claims that the court excluded Mignogna’s Second Amended Petition because it was filed in violation of the re-written Rule 11 Agreement.
The petition claims that the courts also made errors regarding the following points made: determining that Mignogna is a “public figure” with “insufficient” evidence, holding that a party can be “involuntarily converted into a ‘limited-purpose public figure’ … by defending himself against defamatory statements,” dismissing Mignogna’s defamation claims, and “ignor[ing] … testimony” when the appeals court reversed and remanded the trial court’s award of US$100,000 to Rial and Toye’s attorneys.
Funimation, Rial, Marchi, and Toye have waived the filing of a response to the petition but stated they will file a response if the court requests one.
If you’re not familiar with this case or just need a refresher, let’s take a look at the background of this case. Please Note: Vic Mignogna has maintained his innocence of the allegations against him.
The Case So Far:
In August, Texas’s Second Court of Appeals upheld the Tarrant County District Court’s November 2019 judgment against the voice actor. In his defamation suit against his former employer Funimation, voice actresses Jamie Marchi and Monica Rial, and Rial’s fiance, Ron Toye. The court, however, also determined that the attorney’s fee amount that was awarded to Rial and Toye was less than what was “supported by “factually sufficient evidence.”
The appeals court ordered the Tarrant County District Court to redetermine the awards that Vic Mignogna would have to pay Rial and Toye for their attorney fees. The appeals court rejected all points of his appeal and affirmed the original ruling of the trial court. The Appeals Court even ruled that Mignogna “pay all costs of the appeal.”
The Tarrant County District Court awarded Rial and Toye with $100,000 in attorney fees. Rial and Toye contended the amount was less than the amount of $282,953.80 in attorney’s fees they requested and provided evidence for. In examining all of the evidence, the Texas Second Court of Appeals’ majority stated the trial court “failed to factor in all of the testimony addressing expertise and experience, as well as the distinction between a large firm’s billing rate and a small firm’s billing rate,” the latter referring to the attorney’s fees awarded by the trial court to Jamie Marchi, who had the lowest attorney’s fees among the defendants.
Throughout his career, Vic Mignogna has received multiple allegations of sexual harassment from both his colleagues, and fans/convention attendees, which finally came to a head in 2019, when Funimation ceased its working relationship with him. He then sued both Funimation and his former colleagues Jamie Marchi, Monica Rial, and her fiancee Ron Toye for defamation. Both lawsuits were dismissed by the court. The Judge ruled that Vic must pay $223,042.42 in attorneys’ fees to the defendants. The judgment also ordered him to pay US$15,000 in sanctions, for a total of $238,042.42. Additionally, the judgment listed $287,500 in contingent fees that Mignogna may have to pay if he chose to appeal.
The trial court based its decision based on the Texas Citizens Participation Act, like several other states, Texas passed a statute to prevent SLAPP (Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation), or lawsuits filed to stifle other people’s freedoms of speech, association, and petition.
Since the course of this lawsuit, there have been multiple witnesses and alleged victims of the voice actor’s sexual advances have come forward, which include voice actress Kara Edwards, underage con attendees, convention staff, and industry professionals.
Source: Texas Supreme Court, Anime News Network
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