Ninth Circuit Sides With SAG-AFTRA Over Covid-19 Vaccine Rules

Performers’ union SAG-AFTRA has defeated a challenge to vaccine mandates implemented in accordance with its Covid-19-era return-to-work agreement with studios, after a federal appellate court affirmed dismissal of a lawsuit from several members.

The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit held that the plaintiffs’ claims are time-barred that SAG-AFTRA breached its duty of fair representation by negotiating the agreement when the union executed it in July 2021.

The plaintiffs claimed that SAG-AFTRA, which represents 160,000 actors and performers, failed to appropriately represent their interests with studios during the implementation of the return-to-work agreement.

The studios required union members ...