Scarlett Johansson’s Lawyer Drags Disney After Attempt To Push Private Arbitration

Scarlett Johansson‘s legal team is pushing back after Disney tried to push her suit for breach of contract into private arbitration. The company filed a motion with the L.A. Superior Court Friday night to move the suit to binding arbitration in New York, People reports.

According to the American Bar Association, arbitration is a confidential process “where disputing parties agree that one or several individuals can make a decision about the dispute after receiving evidence and hearing arguments.”

Johansson’s lawyer John Berlinski responded: “After initially responding to this litigation with a misogynistic attack against Scarlett Johansson, Disney is now, predictably, trying to hide its misconduct in a confidential arbitration.”

“After initially responding to this litigation with a misogynistic attack against Scarlett Johansson, Disney is now, predictably, trying to hide its misconduct in a confidential arbitration.”

When Johansson filed suit in July, it read: “Disney intentionally induced Marvel's breach of the agreement, without justification, in order to prevent Ms. Johansson from realizing the full benefit of her bargain with Marvel.”

Disney responded: “In a futile effort to evade this unavoidable result (and generate publicity through a public filing), Periwinkle excluded Marvel as a party to this lawsuit — substituting instead its parent company Disney under contract-interference theories. But longstanding principles do not permit such gamesmanship.”

Disney added that as of Aug. 15, the movie “grossed more than $367 million in worldwide box-office receipts and more than $125 million in streaming and download retail receipts.”

Elizabeth Olsen, a fellow Marvel star, supported her suit, telling Vanity Fair: “I think she’s so tough and literally when I read that I was like, ‘good for you Scarlett.'”