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Stacey Wins Court Immunity Challenge
Former castaway Stacey Stillman scored a crucial victory Monday against producers of CBS' hit series, as a judge tossed two breach-of-contract claims filed against her by Survivor Entertainment Group.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Ralph Dau ruled that Stillman did not violate her $5 million confidentiality agreement with SEG or CBS when she filed suit against them in February, claiming executive producer Mark Burnett manipulated her exit.
Dau issued a tentative ruling on the matter Monday--and finalized the decision Tuesday--in favor of the show's insect-eating San Francisco lawyer.
"I'm thrilled," Stillman told E! Online following Monday's ruling. "I can't be sued for telling the truth against illegal conduct...so we're moving forward. Our goal is to show America what kind of fraud CBS and producers committed. This is a great ruling."
The not-so-great news for Stillman, however, is that Judge Dau did not throw out the producers' claim that she defamed Survivor by saying it was rigged. Andy White, attorney for the show's producers, says he's disappointed with Monday's ruling, but insists the defamation claim "is the core of this case. Stacey Stillman spread lies about SEG, and that's been approved to go forward."
Meanwhile, Stillman's lawyer, Donald Yates, says he's hoping that claim, too, will be tossed, once the judge considers testimony from Bible-toting former Survivor contestant Dirk Been, which was recently made public and appears to back Stillman's allegations.
"The court has not yet considered Dirk Been's deposition, so we believe that defamation claim is pretty weak," Yates says.
Stillman is suing CBS and Survivor Entertainment Group claiming Burnett encouraged fellow Tagi tribe members Been and Sean "Alphabet Man" Kenniff to boot her off the island instead of curmudgeonly ex-Navy SEAL Rudy Boesch.
Burnett, for his part, has denied any wrongdoing--a claim supported by Kenniff and most other members of the Tagi tribe, who also weren't too kind to Stillman in their testimonies.
Been, however, testified in April that he believed Burnett did "influence" the game, and that it "affected the game in an unfair manner." Been eventually sent a letter to Burnett following his time on the island, saying he "felt cheap and used" by the experience.
After her suit was filed, CBS and SEG promptly fired back at Stillman, claiming in their $5 million breach-of-contract countersuit that her lawsuit and comments to the press violated the show's confidentiality agreement.
Judge Dau's ruling essentially protected Stillman's rights as a whistleblower: Because she didn't reveal "trade secrets" or say anything until after the show aired, as her lawyers successfully argued, she did not break the agreement.
(updated 6/26/01 at 12 p.m. PT)
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