LOS ANGELES (Legal Newsline) – A rejected journalist who challenged the Hollywood Foreign Press Association’s membership decisions will have to try again.
Judge Stanley Blumenfeld on Nov. 20 threw out the claims of Kjersti Flaa, an entertainment reporter from Norway who claims the 87-member HFPA actually discriminates against members of foreign press outlets and fails to provide a benefit to the workers it purports to represent.
But Blumenfeld dismissed her right of fair procedure and declaratory relief claims without allowing a chance to amend. And he dismissed her antitrust claim but will allow her to amend it.
She wanted Blumenfeld to declare HFPA’s bylaws are unlawful in light of its tax-exempt status.
“(T)he Ninth Circuit was careful to distinguish between a claim for a tax refund due to purportedly exempt status (for which there is jurisdiction) and a claim for a declaration of exempt statuts (for which there is no jurisdiction),” Blumenfeld wrote.
“Plaintiff cannot circumvent the jurisdictional limitation by inviting federal courts to declare whether an organization is in violation of its exempt status, thereby rendering it ineligible for such status without expressly so stating. Federal jurisdiction is not susceptible to such ready manipulation.”
The HFPA pointed to an interview Flaa conducted with stars of “Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald” as a reason for rejecting her membership. It claimed it showed a “history of racist remarks,” while Flaa said that allegation was mere mudslinging.
As for her antitrust claims, Blumenfeld wrote Flaa failed to allege facially sustainable geographic or product markets.
“Plaintiff also asserts that it is ‘blindingly obvious’ that Southern California is the proper market given the HFPA’s role in the Golden Globe awards and its members’ access to corresponding events,” he wrote.
“While Southern California’s connection to the entertainment industry may be obvious, the thrust of Plaintiff’s assertion is not… Plaintiff does not allege that all entertainment news occurs or is consumed in Southern California, and she cannot allege that all entertainment news reporting is done in Southern California.”
Her antitrust claims are “so vague and difficult to comprehend” that it can’t be said that amending them would be futile, Blumenfeld wrote, so he is giving her that chance.