Caitlin Dulany is one of nine named plaintiffs in the class action lawsuit against Harvey Weinstein. On Tuesday morning, she was listening to the court hearing, waiting for the judge to give her preliminary blessing to a settlement that would send $ 18.9 million to Weinstein’s accusers in the class action case.
Instead, in a surprise move, Judge Alvin Hellerstein torpedoed the deal, leaving Dulany shocked and in a state of pain.
“I was stunned,” she said. Variety Tuesday afternoon
The ruling ends almost two years of meticulous and tough negotiations. It leaves Weinstein’s prosecutors to pursue their civil lawsuits individually, and leaves a cloud of uncertainty about the bankruptcy of Weinstein Co.
“It seems really messy,” said Zev Shechtman, a bankruptcy attorney at Danning Gill Israel & Krasnoff LLP. “It looks like they have to go back to the drawing board.”
Tom Giuffra, who represents “Marco Polo” producer Alexandra Canosa in her lawsuit against Weinstein, was celebrating Hellerstein’s ruling on Tuesday. He said he and his client are “delighted” that the judge saw through a “bogus class action.” Giuffra said Elizabeth Fegan, the lead class action attorney, and the New York Attorney General’s office had done great harm to Weinstein’s victims by trying to resolve the cases through the class action process.
Dulany, meanwhile, was in mourning. She said Variety that she felt empowered by working in solidarity with other women, and now she feels a deep sense of loss.
What did you expect to happen?
I hoped they would give us preliminary approval. I have been involved in this for two and a half years and I really feel like I am representing a class of women. The goal would have been to be able to send a long-term notice and a claim form to anyone we know who has spoken out against Harvey Weinstein. Many steps were planned that would have benefited many women. That is the point. She is a great class of women. And then the court could weigh it all up and make its decision at that time. I thought that was going to happen. I’m not even sure what’s going to happen now.
It seemed like he basically had a problem with every element of the deal and just gutted the deal. After working for two years on this, what was your knee jerk reaction to that?
I was in a bit of a shock. I was very surprised at how fast the process was. I think the call lasted 18 minutes. Obviously I am very disappointed and very upset because this is a big responsibility for me. There is going to be a real pain of this for me. I don’t know what else many women can do. I really started thinking about this, but there are so many women that I now know personally that there is nothing they can do. I’m just confused on the part of the opposition.
The opposition’s argument was that this leaves Weinstein too easily, he is paying nothing in this fund, he does not have to admit to any crime, and he is paying his lawyers’ fees.
Harvey Weinstein has the Fifth Amendment right not to incriminate himself. Your legal problems will continue forever. It will pay to defend itself forever.
Personally, I never thought about filing an individual claim or filing a single claim against Harvey Weinstein because I feel like it was the whole system as well that allowed this to happen and made it difficult for us to speak up. That’s the system of the way the entertainment business worked. The things that happened to us happened to us in those hotel rooms, paid for by those companies, at events, at the Miramax offices and at the Weinstein Co. offices. There was a huge network of things happening. We were just the little ones without a voice.
It’s hard for me to understand what anyone would expect to get out of this situation, except that they wanted to get something individually for themselves. I thought it was important to all the women Harvey was hurt to have the opportunity for justice and reward.
I do not know; To me, it seems like a lot of people are fighting for themselves for a long time for potentially nothing, especially the way the courts have ruled so far. I don’t understand the desire to do that. I don’t understand the opposition. I am trying to understand the court ruling. I really assumed that we would have a chance to show what we would do. There will be an equity hearing to see if the settlement has achieved enough for enough victims and has allocated the money fairly.
For me, it was an opportunity for so many women to present the experience they had and then the court would have the final decision on whether they felt the funds had been appropriately allocated. I don’t understand how the court would decide not to allow us to have that time and to have that voice as a class.
The criminal trial must have been a moment of concentration. And now you have this. In general, how do you assess how the legal system has worked?
I am incredibly disappointed. There is still much to fix in the justice system to make it fair to survivors of sexual assault, harassment and abuse. It is a roller coaster, because when Harvey Weinstein was convicted in criminal court, I thought this was a new day, a new dawn. It was a radical change. It remains to be seen if we can hold a predator of that magnitude accountable for all the actions and crimes they have committed. This was a way to hold him accountable.
The trial was on him personally, but the civil case was on the surrounding system. And that seems to be coming out of this image right now.
There are still so many protections, it seems, even in dire circumstances like this, for people in positions of power. It makes my heart race. It worries me because it still leaves young people, and people who are not in positions of power, so vulnerable. That was the goal of seeking justice in the courts in this way.
The deal is not so much money. But being able to create a class empowers survivors. That talks about the future and protections for future survivors. It is really disappointing. All I can say is that the fight is not over. The courts remain, in my opinion, male-centered and outdated.
It’s hard for me to let go of the idea of a class. I know it was an imperfect agreement. But I don’t think it was the fault of the class action attorneys or, frankly, the New York Attorney General’s office. I think it was the system as it is.
Do you think it is the justice system that says that this solidarity you feel with other members of the class is not legally recognized?
Yes. Not recognizing ourselves as a class is a major setback. Serial predators prepare, isolate, and create an atmosphere of fear. A class unites us all with power and strength and having a voice. It’s just a little bit that breaks that. It is a loss. It is a real loss. It has not even sunk.
I don’t know how this happened. The fight continues, but I think it’s more as individuals, that I don’t have the same heart for that. Nor do I think it is particularly important or historical in a broader sense. Today I feel a great loss.
This interview was edited and condensed for clarity.
