Injured Stuntwoman Leslie Hoffman Wins a Second Time in the 9th District Appeal Court Against the SAG Pension Plan

SAG Pension Plan loses in the 9th District Court to injured stuntwoman, Leslie Hoffman over taking away her Disability Pension after traumatic brain injury.

LOS ANGELES, CA, UNITED STATES, January 21, 2019 /EINPresswire.com/ -- After years of complicated court battles over the loss of her Disability Pension after sustaining multiple injuries, stuntwoman Leslie Hoffman’s previous defeat of her ERISA (The Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974) Lawsuit against SAG Pension was reversed and reprimand back down to the Lower Court by the 9th District Court. This will be the third time the Lower Court must rule on Ms. Hoffman’s original lawsuit. Her case has been ruled against the first time and the second time dismissed without a hearing by two different Lower Court Judges. Once appealed to the 9th District Court, they have overturned the judgment based on vital information that was not taken into account in the original courts. (9th Circuit Case Number: 16-56663 / District Court Case Number: 2:16-cv-01530)

The root of the lawsuit centers on SAG Pension canceling Ms. Hoffman’s benefits. Ms. Hoffman and her doctor’s claim she sustained several serious injuries while doing stunts on set. Ms. Hoffman is currently receiving Social Security Disability (since 2002) for multiple injuries. Previously, Ms. Hoffman was receiving benefits from SAG Pension but it was canceled (in part) after SAG Pension claimed that Ms. Hoffman had been holding herself out to be available for work. Ms. Hoffman denies the claim that she has held herself out for work and also claims she has been diagnosed with a Traumatic Brain Injury by top medical specialists in the country. The 9th District Court Judges sided with Ms. Hoffman and sent the case back to Lower Courts to be heard again.

The film industry regularly employs stunt professionals to perform dangerous scenes that they feel are too risky for the principal actors. High falls, falling down stairs, being set on fire and being hit by cars are among a few activities in the daily lives of stunt professionals.

Leslie Hoffman was one of Hollywood’s top stuntwoman at the pinnacle of her 25-year career, which ended in 2002 after suffering injuries from being a professional stuntwoman. Her credits include working on Star Trek: DS9 and Voyager, Nightmare on Elm Street, M*A*S*H, The Love Boat, Fantasy Island, Remington Steele, CHiPs, The Naked Gun and many more popular shows and movies. She was a vested member of SAG for 25 years and the first stuntwoman elected to the SAG Board of Directors in 1981 and was the first stuntwoman Board Member of the AFTRA National Board and their Los Angeles Local Chapter. During her time there, she advocated for more safety measures and fought discrimination for stuntwomen and people of color.

The Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, or ERISA, protects the assets of millions of Americans so that funds placed in retirement plans during their working lives will be there when they retire. ERISA is a federal law that sets minimum standards for retirement plans in private industry. [Wikipedia (January 17, 2019 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Employee_Retirement_Income_Security_Act_of_1974 ]

The Screen Actors Guild (SAG) was an American labor union which represented over 100,000 film and television principal and background performers worldwide. On March 30, 2012, the union leadership announced that the SAG membership voted to merge with the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists(AFTRA) to create SAG-AFTRA. [Source: Wikipedia (January 17, 2019) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Screen_Actors_Guild ]

Amanda Alexandrakis
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