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Most of the ‘Modern Family’ cast (Sofia Vergara, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Eric Stonestreet, Julie Bowen and Ty Burrell) have joined together and have filed a lawsuit against 20th Century Fox Television for making illegal contracts with the cast that states the cast would not be able to work for 7 years after their agreements, but that violates the Seven-Year Rule under California Labor Code.
In court documents obtained by ET, Sofia Vergara, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Eric Stonestreet, Julie Bowen and Ty Burrell claim that the success of the Emmy-winning Modern Family “has been built upon a collection of illegal contracts.”
The papers go on to claim that the actors’ contracts bind them to work on Modern Family “and preclude them from other work beyond seven years after the execution of the agreements.”
Plaintiffs seek “a declaration of their rights under California Code of Civil Procedure section 1060, that the agreements violate the Seven-Year Rule under California Labor Code section 2855(a), and therefore are illegal and wholly void.”
The cast members have initiated a salary standoff that has already delayed Tuesday’s scheduled table read that would have marked the start of the fourth season, according to The Hollywood Reporter, and a source close to the negotiations tells THR that Ed O’Neill, who is paid more than his co-stars and is negotiating separately, has decided to join his castmembers as a plaintiff in the lawsuit out of solidarity.
Photo from PR Photos
