Disney Slammed With Retaliation Lawsuit

In 2019, The Walt Disney Company shelled out more than $70 billion to purchase 20th Century Fox. The purchase gave Disney the rights to popular film franchises like Ice Age, as well as hit television shows like The Simpsons. A couple of years after the purchase, Nissa Diederich took over as the Executive Vice President of 20th Century Television, replacing EVP Jim Sharp.

Now, the son of Jim Sharp is suing not only Diederich, but also The Walt Company for retaliation.

Credit: Disney

According to the lawsuit, Jimmy Sharp — the son of Jim Sharp — was an approved Stunt Coordinator for both Disney and 20th Century. However, almost immediately after Diederich took over, Sharp found himself blacklisted and unable to find work. Pieces of the lawsuit were shared by Deadline:

“Effective April 1, 2022, Ms. Diederich now had the power and authority to remove Jimmy from the pre-approved Stunt Coordinator List and she abused her position of power to make sure Jimmy would not work again as a Stunt Coordinator,” asserts a multi-claim complaint field in LA Superior Court yesterday. “Ms. Diederich did not have a good faith basis for directly and indirectly terminating Jimmy’s employment,” the document from former Modern Familyand American Horror Story stunt coordinator Jimmy Sharp and his El Segundo-based Barrera & Associates lawyers adds.

Credit: ABC

Disney does not always comment on pending litigation, but it did release a short statement.

Sparing neither allegations nor anecdote, and mostly sidestepping the parental relationship, the 15-page complaint seeks a plethora of damages and “injunctive and declaratory relief” of no less than $1 million. In reply, a Disney spokesperson told Deadline that “these allegations are baseless and this lawsuit is without merit.”

Credit: Disney

Before Diederich replaced Jim Sharp, there apparently had been growing tension between the two, as well as between Sharp and other employees. Diederich and Sharp were at odds over “billing irregularities” and claimed that Sharp’s son was being treated better than others because of who his father was. Disney — which was run by Bob Iger at the time — investigated the claims, but found that there was no wrongdoing going on.

The younger Sharp claimed that Diederich had used him as a Stunt Coordinator on nearly all of her projects. Once the investigation was over, those jobs stopped and, Sharp claimed, Diederich began to target him. Sharp also claims that he tried many times to extend an “olive branch” to Diederich, who, in turn, ignored him.