Hunter Tylo and Aaron Spelling

This case is based on a real situation between actress Hunter Tylo and producer Aaron Spelling. This case went to trial with a jury verdict.

 

Hunter Tylo

Deborah Jo Hunter was born in 1962 in Fort Worth, Texas. She became pregnant at age 17, had a son at 18, and married his father a few months later. She began acting in local commercials and theater productions before she was invited to New York to audition for daytime television. Over the next several years, she performed in shows such as All My Children and Days of Our Lives under the name Hunter Tylo. In 1990, she was cast in the soap opera, The Bold and the Beautiful where she worked in October 2002, returning in 2005 in a plot twist that revealed her 2002 death had been faked. During her time on the Bold and the Beautiful, she was named one of People Magazine’s “50 Most Beautiful People.” She appeared in over 50 national and international commercials for companies such as Canada Dry, Ban, Nissan, Lux, Naturalizer, Cover Girl, and Pantene. In 1998, she had a daughter born with a particular type of eye cancer called Retinoblastoma. Because of this, Hunter got involved in politics and helped promote California’s AB2185, ensuring that babies receive an eye exam as part of the routine six-week health exam. Hunter has stated that she considers the passage of that legislation as her crowning achievement.

 

Aaron Spelling

Aaron Spelling was born in 1923, almost 40 years before Hunter Tylo. Spelling served in the U.S. Air Force from 1942-45 and was decorated with a Bronze Star Medal, and a Purple Heart with an Oak Leaf Cluster. He returned from the war and graduated from Southern Methodist University in 1950. While in college, he was a successful student playwright at SMU and won the Eugene O’Neill Award for original one-act plays in both 1947 and 1948, a rare feat. After graduation, he spent a few years directing plays in the Dallas area and trying less than successfully to make his way to Broadway. In 1953, he moved to Hollywood where he appeared in approximately 50 television shows and 12 films. During this time, he started writing for the Zane Grey Theater. He and actor Danny Thomas founded the Four Star Production Company. He started his own production company, Aaron Spelling Productions, Inc., in the early 1970s, and by the 1980s was known as the King of Television. In 1984, he produced seven series on ABC – one-third of the network’s primetime schedule. In the 1990’s he produced Beverly Hills 90210 and Melrose Place. As an outstanding member of the Hollywood community, Spelling served on the Board of Directors of the American Film Institute; Writers Guild of America; Producers Guild of America; Caucus of Producers, Writers and Directors; Hollywood Radio and TV Society; Hollywood TV Academy of Arts and Sciences; and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. In addition, for his groundbreaking work in portraying minority women in lead roles, Spelling won 6 National Association Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) Image Awards. Spelling died in June 2006 at the age of 83.

 

The Interaction:

In February 1996, Hunter Tylo was acting in The Bold and the Beautiful. On February 16, 1996, Tylo entered into a contract with Spelling Entertainment Group and Spelling Television, Inc., to perform on the popular television series Melrose Place. The contract provided that Tylo would render “exclusive services in a recurring role for the 1996/97 series for a total of eight . . . episodes.” The contract also gave Spelling the option to require Tylo to render exclusive services for another three years after the 1996/1997 series. Tylo was informed that no specific character for her role had yet been written. The contract gave Spelling the right of termination “if [petitioner] suffers any material change in [petitioner’s] appearance. . . .” Production was to begin in late June or early July 1996 for the 1996/1997 season. Tylo announced her departure from The Bold and the Beautiful and her character was phased out of the show. She turned down an opportunity for a test option role in the pilot for the Disney series Daytona Beach and turned down auditions for other pilots for the fall 1996/1997 season. In anticipation of her role on Melrose Place, she received offers of several commercials and was negotiating possible roles in movies of the week.

In mid-March 1996, petitioner learned that she was pregnant and requested that her business manager inform Spelling “so that the writers of ‘Melrose Place’ would have every opportunity to account for her pregnancy in developing her character, which had not yet been created.”

Spelling’s company believed that the character was “by necessity not pregnant,” and Tylo would not be able to perform her job duties for a position in which physical beauty is an essential function. Spelling believed that because Tylo’s character was required to be a “vixen, seductress, adulteress,” due to the nature of the television show, she could not perform with any dramatic credibility and should, therefore, be exempted from pregnancy discrimination protections.

 

The Question

Due to the uncertain nature of the law in the area, participants may be asked to serve in the place of advisors to Aaron Spelling regarding the ethical implications of the situation. Should Spelling take action to terminate the contract under these circumstances?

 

The Epilogue

On April 10, 1996, Spelling informed Tylo that her contract was terminated “because this character is by necessity not pregnant. . . .”

On May 13, 1996, Tylo filed a complaint against Spelling for employment discrimination under California Law on the basis she was terminated solely because of her pregnancy; wrongful termination in violation of public policy (discrimination based on sex); breach of the employment contract (for cause only); breach of implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing “by not informing Tylo that not being pregnant was a condition of employment; by not informing her that if she became pregnant after signing the agreement that she would be terminated; by not discussing the circumstances surrounding her pregnancy with her; by not determining whether, if because of her pregnancy, she would require any accommodation, and by unilaterally terminating Tylo’s employment with the series ‘Melrose Place’ because of her pregnancy, without good cause and in bad faith;” negligent misrepresentation because Spelling did not inform petitioner “that they would not employ an actress who was pregnant or who later became pregnant to work on ‘Melrose Place;’” and that Tylo “would be employed for a minimum of eight . . . episodes on the series of ‘Melrose Place’ for the 1996/97 series, with the option to require Tylo to render exclusive services in the recurring role for an additional three . . . years, for an aggregate term of four . . . years.” Tylo requested damages for loss of earnings and employment benefits, loss of other employment opportunities, mental and emotional anxiety and distress, medical expenses, punitive damages, and attorney fees.

At trial, Tylo was awarded almost $900,000 for economic loss and $4 million for emotional distress from a Los Angeles jury after five days of deliberation. That award was upheld by the judge in post-trial motions.

Sources on file with Professor Yordy