LOS ANGELES (CNS) - An acting coach is suing a casting director he alleges posted false allegations that he sexually harassed actresses, damaging his reputation and hurting his business opportunities.
Robert Margolies brought the suit Thursday in Los Angeles Superior Court against Jennifer Rudolph, alleging false light invasion of privacy, intentional and negligent interference with prospective economic relations and intentional interference with contractual relations. Margolies seeks unspecified damages.
A representative for Rudolph could not be immediately reached.
Rudolph created the Actor's Green Room collective in 2008 to connect actors worldwide with professional in the film industry, the suit states. She later established the Green Lounge in 2015, which operates as a Facebook group serving actors, writers, directors and other industry professionals and currently has more than 13,000 members, the suit states.
In January 2018, Margolies joined the Green Lounge Facebook group, where actors worldwide receive education and industry support for all members, according to the suit. As of June 2, Margolies had active business deals and had entered into contracts with several members of the GL group community to provide services to them, their business partners and entities affiliated with them, the suit states.
Margolies received on average 10 clients per month and gained additional business and professional referrals, the suit states.
Rudolph knew that Margolies formed connections and received client referrals via his membership and participation in the GL group, including actresses Lydia Fiore and Natalie Roy, the suit states.
In early June, at a time when Margolies had a ``stellar professional reputation,'' Rudolph published a statement on the GL page falsely stating that Margolies was removed from the group because he had violated its rules by engaging in sexual misconduct, the suit states.
Rudolph allegedly stated in one posting, ``Over the past week, several women have bravely come forward, putting themselves on the line, to report that members of this community ... and Rob Margolies crossed the line and caused them harm. I believe these women. I will always believe women and anyone who speaks up about sexual harassment, assault and other abuses of power,'' according to the suit.
The posting further said that Margolies and another man had been "permanently removed from this group and will no longer be permitted to participate in any AGR activities, classes, events or meetups.''
The posting indicated that Margolies was ``a perpetrator and/or predator who had engaged in inappropriate, sexual misconduct in the course of professional interactions with actresses,'' ostracizing him from his professional contacts and colleagues, the suit states.
Rudolph never reached out to get Margolies' side of the story, nor did she investigate to determine whether he had actually done anything wrong, according to the suit.