Actor Gina Carano, known for her role in “The Mandalorian,” and her discrimination lawsuit against Disney and Lucasfilm are one step closer to trial.
A Los Angeles federal judge ruled Wednesday that the company failed to establish that employment of Carano constituted expressive association, which is protected by the First Amendment.
Judge Sherilyn Peace Garnett rejected the company’s motion to dismiss Carano’s lawsuit, which is backed by tech billionaire Elon Musk.
Garnett wrote that the company has “failed to set forth an ‘impenetrable defense’ under the First Amendment.”
Carano is suing for discrimination and wrongful termination after she was fired in February 2021 by the company responsible for the “Star Wars” spinoff over what it called “abhorrent” social media posts from the actress.
In the posts in question, she compared Nazi Germany to politics today and mocked face masks worn during the COVID-19 pandemic.
In the lawsuit, the actress claims she was terminated because “she dared to voice her own opinions, on social media platform and elsewhere, and stood up to the online bully mob who demanded her compliance with their extreme progressive ideology.”
Filed in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, the suit is expected to test the boundaries of California’s protection for employees to be politically active outside of work without retaliation from employers, Bloomberg Law noted.
Lucasfilm said at the time of her firing that it did not intend to employ Carano again and said her posts “denigrating people based on their cultural and religious identities are abhorrent and unacceptable.”
Carano argues that the company targeted her because she’s a woman but looked the other way “when it came to men” because no action was taken when male actors took controversial stances online.
Musk, who owns social media platform X, posted earlier this year that the company was “proud to provide” financial support for Carano’s lawsuit so she can “seek vindication of her free speech rights on X.”
In a post late Wednesday night, Carano said she was moved to tears over the judge's ruling Wednesday.
"After a brutal 3 1/2 years, I am being given the opportunity to move forward in the court of law before the judge and my peers to clear my name. I am so grateful for this opportunity," she wrote, thanking Musk for his support.
"What happened to me was unacceptable, absurd and abusive, among other things. It should not have happened to me, and it should not happen to anyone else moving forward. Let it stop here.
No trial date has been set.
The Hill has reached out to Disney for comment.
