2 FAST 2 FURIOUS - ASSISTANT DIRECTOR SETTLES DISCRIMINATION CASE AGAINST UNIVERSAL

ASSISTANT DIRECTOR SETTLES DISCRIMINATION CASE AGAINST UNIVERSAL

Only one day into the trial of a racial-discrimination lawsuit brought by a former assistant director against Universal Pictures, the studio agreed to settle the case for an undisclosed figure. Frank Davis, who had charged that he was fired as first assistant director on Neal Moritz's 2 Fast 2 Furious because he is African-American, had testified earlier in the day that "I did what I was supposed to be doing and I was fired." Director John Singleton, who is also African-American, told the court that he had opposed Davis's firing. But Universal production executive Andrew Fenady testified that Davis had been terminated because of his lack of experience, which had resulted in "sheer and total chaos" on the set and because of a complaint from the studio's transportation captain that Davis was "going to get someone killed out here." The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has charged that Davis never received notice of any perceived lapses in his performance and that production reports had indicated that filming was on schedule while he was working on it.

14/06/2007