Aftra Suit Heads Toward Trial

The U.S. District Court in Atlanta has moved closer to trial in a 6-year-old pending lawsuit by 16 veteran '60s artists against the major-label record companies and administrators of the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA) pension plan.
Judge Clarence Cooper granted on Feb. 10 the artists' motion to proceed with the discovery phase of the case, allowing the artist plaintiffs to examine all relevant documents in the case. The suit, Samuel D. Moore (of Sam & Dave) vs. American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, et al., alleges that administrators in charge of AFTRA Employee Retirement Income Security Program Funds at record companies underpaid or intentionally neglected to report and pay retirement and health funds over the past 40 years (Billboard, Dec. 16, 1995).
By law, record companies are obligated to make contributions to the AFTRA fund, based on sales, under a collective bargaining agreement called the Phono Code. They also have to administer the fund.
The civil lawsuit, filed in 1993, also alleges wire-fraud and mail-fraud violations, which would trigger the federal RICO anti-racketeering law. Cooper ruled two years ago that there was enough evidence for the lawsuit to proceed (Billboard, Aug. 30, 1997). At that time, the artist plaintiffs told the court that they had exhausted all administrative remedies that the defendants had called for, and the court agreed.
The court still must decide whether to allow the case to broaden into a class-action suit involving other performers of that era. If it becomes a class-action lawsuit, the plaintiffs would ask for $7 billion in civil damages. In either event, the case could also set a precedent for future lawsuits dealing with the pension funds of present-day vocal performers.
The granted motion means that for the first time, the artists' lawyers will be able to view all relevant documents and files pertaining to the case. There are 26 categories of documents, including the artists' gross compensation, benefit contributions, royalty payments, and record sales and costs figures.
The defendants must produce the documents within 60 days, according to the order. The plaintiffs, however, must bear the cost to design and run a computer program necessary to retrieve some of the information as it existed in 1993, when the suit was filed, Cooper ruled.
"The judge's ruling confirms that this is a case about accounting and accountability," says Richard Perlman, who filed the initial lawsuit. "It's a question of, Did they owe and did they pay? The documents that are going to be produced will provide the answers."
Joining plaintiff Moore in the suit are Curtis Mayfield, Jerry Butler, Carl Gardner, and Brian Hyland, as well as the estates of Jackie Wilson, Mary Wells, Sam & Dave's David Prater, and nine others.
Cooper denied the motion by the labels to stay the discovery order because it pertains only to the 16 artists and "because of the age of this case."
Defendants in the suit are Warner Bros. Records, MCA Records, Capitol Records, A&M Records, PolyGram Records, Sony Music, Motown Records, and the Bertelsmann Music Group. Officials from those companies declined to comment on the case.