Gina Carano Beats Disney’s Move To Kill ‘Mandalorian’ Firing Suit; Now Trial Looms

deadline.com:

“Unless you want to go another round, one of us is going to have to leave, and I was here first,” said Gina Carano’s former Rebel shock trooper Cara Dune in Season 1 of Disney+’s The Mandalorian.

Those scripted words from the ex-MMA fighter have an added resonance today, as Disney failed to get Carano’s discrimination lawsuit over her 2021 firing from the Star Wars series dismissed “Defendants have not identified any evidence—in the Complaint or otherwise—to substantiate a claim that they employ public-facing actors for the purpose of promoting the ‘values of respect,’ ‘decency,’ ‘integrity,’ or ‘inclusion,'” asserts California-based Judge Sherilyn Peace Garnett Wednesday in an order kneecapping Disney’s move to see Carano’s legal action tossed out (read the dismissal denial order here). “Accordingly, Defendants’ invocation of the supposedly detrimental effects of Plaintiff’s ‘mere presence’ as one of Defendants’ employees lacks constitutional import.” While no date has been set, unless the Force steps in, it is clear at this pivotal point Carano’s Elon Musk-backed suit is heading towards trial.

A trial if the parties don’t reach a pricey settlement first, which is certainly not out of the question in an increasingly messy matter like this. “At this stage in the litigation, the Court cannot conclude, as Defendants urge it to, that Plaintiff’s continued employment by Defendants would inhibit or intrude upon Defendants’ rights to expressive association,” said Judge Garnett earlier in the 23-page denial order, centering on Disney and fellow defendants’ Lucasfilm and Huckleberry Industries’ ability to choose who they do and don’t want be associated with. “As an initial matter, unlike the Boy Scouts or the Jaycees,