Editor-in-Chief, Legal, Labor & Politics

“Unless you wanna go another round, one of us is gonna have to go, and I got here first,” Gina Carano’s former Rebel shock trooper Cara Dune says in Season 1 of Disney+’s The Mandalorian. Those scripted words from the ex-MMA fighter have extra resonance today, as Disney failed to dismiss Carano’s discrimination lawsuit over her firing from the Star Wars series in 2021.

“Defendants have failed to establish any evidence — in the complaint or otherwise — to support a claim that they employ public actors to promote the ‘values of respect,’ ‘decency,’ ‘integrity,’ or ‘inclusion,’” California-based Judge Sherilyn Peace Garnett said Wednesday in an order rejecting Disney’s decision to dismiss Carano’s lawsuit.

“Accordingly, Defendants' reliance on the alleged harmful effects of Plaintiff's 'mere presence' as one of Defendants' employees has no constitutional force.”