LOS ANGELES—Derek Hay, founder of LA Direct Models, last month was ordered by a California court to pay over $400,000 in civil penalties to his former models as a result of violations of the Talent Agencies Act.
In litigation that started in 2018, five models were awarded $103,264 in attorney's fees and $3,401 in related costs when Labor Commissioner hearing officer Patricia Salazar ruled that Hay violated the law when he withheld commission payments to the performers. During an appeal of the case, the court additionally awarded $283,860.90 in attorney's fees and another $11,632.35 in costs, as is permitted under the state of California's Labor Code. The total sum the court awarded to the models was $402,158.25.
"The original judgment is amended by the minute order granting the fees and costs," attorney Allan Gelbard, who represented the models, said in an email, referring to how minutes are issued to the docket of the case by the court to amend an original judgment, granting the fees and costs.
"We are disappointed, but note that the amount granted is far less than what Attorney Gelbard sought," said Richard Freeman, the attorney for Hay. He pointed to how Gelbard's initial post-judgement motion filing against Hay for attorney's fees and costs earlier in the year was an aggressive sum—a total of over $560,000.
