$128M Damages Award gets REVERSED by Judge against Fox in the case of 'Bones'

The channel now won't have to pay any of that money...

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The war between Fox channel and the creators of the show Bones has been going on for a while now where the court of law has also been involved. In the latest development, however, it has been confirmed that Fox won't have to pay $128 Million in punitive damages to the creators of the show, Bones.

Earlier this year,  Peter Lichtman levied one of the largest damages awards in Hollywood history against Fox, finding executives lied, cheated and committed fraud at the expense of the show’s stars, Emily Deschanel and David Boreanaz; executive producer Barry Josephson; and Kathy Reichs, who wrote the books upon which the series was based. They sued in 2015 claiming they were shortchanged on their share of the profits, and the fight was subsequently moved to arbitration under the terms of their contracts.

What followed was a ruling of awarding the plaintiffs $179 million - which included $128 million punitive damages, $32 million in compensatory damages, $10 million in pre-judgment interest and more than $9 million in fees and costs.

Fox channel challenged the punitive damages arguing that the studio's contracts expressly precluded an arbitrator from issuing such an award. Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Richard Rico on Thursday agreed. According to a report in Hollywood Reporter, Daniel Saunders, attorney for Boreanaz, Deschanel, and Reichs was quoted saying, "It deals only with the technical issue of whether our clients waived their right to receive punitive damages. As the arbitrator concluded, they did not — and we look forward to showing the Court of Appeal why it should reverse today’s ruling.”

Added Josephson's attorney Dale Kinsella, "We respectfully and profoundly disagree with the trial court’s order eliminating the punitive damages award against Fox. While the ruling contains no reasoning, we are confident that when the appellate court reviews the Award with the required deference, without regard to the trial court’s finding, the original award will be reinstated." 

Fox on Thursday also issued a brief statement in response to the decision: "We are pleased with the Court’s decision to strike punitive damages from the award and vindicating our position. We look forward to concluding the litigation.”

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