Director John Ridley, ABC and Disney Named as Defendants in Discrimination Lawsuit

A woman who worked as a development executive for director John Ridley, filed a lawsuit claiming her employment was terminated in 2022 after she raised issues of pay inequality because she is Asian American. Asta Jonasson filed the suit, which named Ridley, ABC, and the network's parent company Disney as co-defendants, in Los Angeles Superior Court on Wednesday, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

The complaint focuses on Jonasson's time working for International Famous Players Radio Picture Corp. of Ridley, who THR says he started working with ABC Studios in 2016. “H [ABC] The announcement included that Ridley would expand his company, including hiring a dedicated development executive, the role that Jonasson already held with the title of Director of Development,” the suit states. “In response, Jonasson advocated to Ridley for equal pay.”

The company offered the job to a white man, who ultimately turned it down. Jonasson claims she continued to perform the duties without fair compensation.

In 2016, Jonasson asked Ridley for the same opportunities he offered men, according to the complaint, but did not receive a positive response. Instead, Ridley reportedly hired men to perform assistant and co-producer duties on American Crime which he did in the past. She approached Ridley again three years later, according to the filing, allegedly showing him data that compared her workload and compensation to that of a white colleague. She claims he told her that if she had worked on a freelance script, she “would have left him.” THR reports that one of Ridley's production partners used a sexist term to refer to her at the time.

The lawsuit cites an example from 2020 in which Apple TV+ challenged Ridley to hire only white men in leadership roles in Five Days at the Memorial. “Ridley's response was to state, 'They got me,' meaning a black male in a prominent position,” the complaint states. “Ridley's dismissive response exemplified his hostility toward women and other minorities taking leadership positions.”

Ridley's company fired her in 2022, according to the complaint, which claims she was motivated to ask for a raise for the first time since 2014, after the company hired a white woman as a creative executive. Jonasson claims she went to representatives at ABC and Disney for support, but they were of no help.

Representatives for Disney, ABC and Ridley did not immediately respond The Rolling Stones requests for comment.

“Jonasson now seeks to defend herself and countless others in Hollywood who, without bargaining power and in the face of systemic discrimination, are exploited and left to work long hours for low wages and little to no credit,” the complaint states.

Next is Jonasson's suit 2019 class action filing by women against Disney who allege pay disparity. THR says the trial is expected to be scheduled for next year.