Bratz Doll Maker Says Juror’s Insensitive Remarks Justify Mistrial
Lawyers for Bratz doll manufacturer MGA Entertainment are seeking a mistrial because of a juror’s insensitive remarks about the ethnicity of the company’s chief executive officer.
The jury ruled against MGA in the first phase of the copyright infringement case, finding that the Bratz designer had created the doll while working at Mattel, before he joined MGA. MGA lawyer Thomas Nolan sought a mistrial Friday as the damages phase of the trial was getting under way, the Daily Journal reports (sub. req.).
The comments concerned CEO Isaac Larian, who was born in Iran. U.S. District Judge Stephen Larson of Riverside, Calif., said the juror had remarked that her lawyer husband had Iranian clients “who are stubborn, rude, stingy, are thieves, and have stolen other [people’s] ideas,” according to the Daily Journal account of the judge’s written findings.
Larson said most of the jurors heard the remark, causing some to get emotional and cry. The comment was made as jurors considered whether sketches made by the Bratz doll’s designer were done while he was a Mattel employee. At that point, jurors had already resolved several issues in favor of Mattel.
Larson dismissed the juror and scheduled a hearing for Aug. 4 on the mistrial motion.
