Broadway Producers, Casting Directors In Legal Feud: Report Say

MIDTOWN MANHATTAN, NY — Broadway's leading producers and casting directors are engaged in a legal feud as the casting directors attempt to unionize, the New York Times first reported.

The Broadway League, a group representing Broadway producers and theater owners, filed a federal lawsuit Tuesday against seven casting offices and the Casting Society of America, the Times reported. The lawsuit also names the Teamsters union, which the casting directors are hoping to join.

The lawsuit claims that casting directors are squeezing Broadway's producers for profits, driving up the price of putting on production by tens of thousands, the Times reported. Directors are demanding a surcharge 30 percent higher than previously negotiated fees and are refusing to take on new work in their bid to unionize, the lawsuit claims.

Casting Directors have said they are fighting to join Teamsters Local 817 in an effort to win better health care and retirement benefits, the Times reported.

Read the full New York Times story here.

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