Disney and 20th TV EVP Nissa Diederich has been hit with a retaliation lawsuit by former director Jim Sharp’s stuntman son

The stuntman son of the man Nissa Diederich took over at the age of 20^e Last year, TV sued the EPP and The Walt Disney Company for retaliation and blacklisted him for career killings.

“On April 1, 2022, Ms. Diederich now had the power and authority to remove Jimmy from the pre-approved list of stunt coordinators, and she abused her position of power to ensure that Jimmy would not work as a stunt coordinator again not.” Multi-claim lawsuit yesterday in LA Superior Court “Ms. Diederich did not act in good faith to directly or indirectly terminate Jimmy’s employment,” the document states modern family and American Horror Story Stunt coordinator Jimmy Sharp and his lawyers at Barrera & Associates of El Segundo add (read it here).

The 15-page indictment, which doesn’t spare allegations or anecdotes, mostly sidesteps the parental relationship and seeks a bounty of punitive damages and “injunctive and declaratory relief of not less than $1 million.”

Just in case this year’s April date rings a bell in the old memories department, it’s because it’s exactly one day after the plaintiff’s father and industry veteran Jim Sharp Sr., her job as TV’s 20th Head of Production, EVP and Long Oointed left. Diederich officially took over the position.

In connection with that, there seems to have been a long-standing animosity between Sharp jr. and Diederich about a 2017 investigation into “alleged billing irregularities and alleged workplace favoritism (sic) toward Jimmy because his father was the head of television production.” it is succinctly stated in the template. Investigated by human resources when Disney, then run by Bob Iger, took over most of Rupert Murdoch’s Fox assets, the complaint says nothing unusual was going on and Sharp Jr. was taken on by Fox’s Fox’s vice president in November 2017. Halfway through the merger, Employee Relations, Anna Druker, was informed in writing that the accusations of overbilling were “unfounded.”

Case closed, but not really — at least according to the lawsuit, which was filed Nov. 19 on the LASC list

“Before the workplace investigation, Ms. Diederich had Jimmy on 100% of her television shows with Ryan Murphy,” the document states. Mrs. Diederich was well aware that Jimmy also worked on other Fox shows, which was not unusual for a stunt coordinator at Fox. Instead of apologizing to Jimmy for being involved in the workplace investigation, Ms. Diederich is obviously unhappy with HR’s decision and Jimmy’s justification. Ms. Diederich began the investigation. Their attempts to influence and control the outcome of the investigation have failed.”

“Mrs. Diederich launched a campaign to exact revenge on Jimmy,” the lawsuit continues. “Over time, Jimmy was permanently removed from all shows under Ms. Diederich’s control, including all shows for Ryan Murphy,” it reads, noting that Sharp Jr. has been in town as “Ryan’s Guy” and “Fox.” “As of April 2022, production executives working under Ms. Diederich, who Jimmy would hire show after show after year, says that producers who Jimmy had dated for years and who wanted to hire Jimmy for their shows started informing Jimmy that they couldn’t hire him any longer.

Despite efforts to extend an “olive branch” and “address Ms. Diederich’s concerns,” Sharp Jr.’s attorneys say their client has only been silenced. They also say their client is experiencing a general drought at the started seeing work as more and more shows from producers like Jeff Morton and others miserably refused to hire him. “Earlier this year two other producers (with whom Jimmy has worked on various shows over the years) informed Jimmy that he couldn’t work on their new show Santa Clause even though they wanted to,” the suit states. “Jimmy was actually offered and accepted the job over the phone, but then the production manager called Jimmy back and said he couldn’t offer him the job not.”

While the timelines are a little shaky here and there during the complaint, Sharp Jr. insisting throughout that his father’s protégé, Nissa Diederich, is out to destroy him. Then Disney and 20^e TV did not respond to Deadline’s request for comment on the lawsuit. If and when it does, we’ll update this post.

Also note that Sharp Jr. didn’t request a jury trial, so a judge will make the decision on this matter when it eventually goes to court – which, when you think about it, is a very stunt coordinator approach.