A union representation lawsuit against ACTRA is to be heard in a Montreal courtroom from today (Jan. 6) with implications for Canadian performers.

The Superior Court of Quebec is to begin hearing Bezina/Walsh vs ACTRA/Raymond Guardia, a lawsuit five years in the making that alleges negligent representation by ACTRA of a claim by two stunt veterans and long-time union members, Marcello Bezina and John Walsh, against Sea Wolf, a 2008 film shot in Nova Scotia that starred Tim Roth, Neve Campbell, and Sebastian Koch.

In Sea Wolf, Bezina was hired as a stunt performer and Walsh as a stunt coordinator, to work as part of a 10-person practical sailing crew aboard an American schooner.

The plaintiffs, Bezina and Walsh, who will give three days of opening testimony this week, allege ACTRA breached their rights as members of the actors union when handling apparent violations by Sea Wolf Productions.

Those violations, according to a 44-page claim against ACTRA filed with the Quebec court, include the Sea Wolf production using poorly paid and uncredited actors, which violated the Independent Production Agreement between the union and the Canadian Media Production Association, representing indie producers.

The IPA sets workplace pay and conditions for ACTRA members.

Bezina and Walsh, after blowing the whistle on Sea Wolf Productions for paying actors less than minimum rates, were allegedly told by ACTRA that they had received compensation – $17,642 for Walsh and $11,570 for Bezina.

At the same time, the plaintiffs allege ACTRA, and specifically Raymond Guardia, the union’s regional executive director in Quebec, seized the settlement by Bezina and Walsh with Sea Wolf Productions.

The plaintiffs in their claim argue the “amounts therein paid to ACTRA in ‘settlement’ of the aforesaid ‘grievance’ constitutes moneys collected as ‘amounts due to artists’ whom defendant ACTRA represents, which are due to plaintiffs and which ACTRA has failed, omitted, and/or knowingly and in bad faith refused to remit as set forth below, the whole notwithstanding its statutory duties flowing from Art. 24(5) of the LSPA and its recognition as an ‘association d’artistes reconnue’.”

The lawsuit will hinge in part on whether Bezina performed as a principal actor in Seawolf, and delivered dialogue, for which he was due minimum rates, and not merely served as stunt or background performer.

Walsh did not appear on camera as a character in Sea Wolf.

The ACTRA members, in their court claim, insist they did perform work as actors in “directed action” for which they were “never properly remunerated.”

The Quebec hearing, scheduled to last until Jan. 29, and its subsequent ruling, will have implications for how actors are contracted beforehand to work on a film production, according to the IPA, and how they are compensated for work actually performed on set once the cameras roll.

ACTRA’s defence filed with the Quebec Superior Court argued Bezina and Walsh’s claim against the actors union and Raymond Guardia were without legal grounds.

“The defendants have not committed any fault in their representation,” the ACTRA claim stated.

The union also denied “mistakes, bad faith, damages and any alleged causal link in its handling of Bezina and Walsh’s grievance against the Sea Wolf production.

UPDATED: Jan. 6 at 5:08 p.m.

Image via Shutterstock