Ferguson v. Writers Guild of America, West
Court of Appeals of California
226 Cal. App. 3d 1382 (1991)
Ferguson (plaintiff) was credited only as co-screenwriter (with others credited for story) on Beverly Hills Cop II under the Writers Guild's (defendant) internal credit-arbitration process, which he had agreed to as a condition of membership. Instead of pursuing further Guild remedies, Ferguson filed a petition in superior court seeking to compel the Guild to give him sole screenplay and story credit, alleging the arbitration process was tainted by undue influence from the credit arbitration secretary and that he was denied a fair chance to present evidence. The superior court denied his petition.
Whether a court may review and reverse the merits of a union's internal arbitration credit determination, as opposed to reviewing only whether the parties agreed to arbitrate and whether the arbitration followed the agreed procedure.