Escalating the dispute over striking 'Fashion Police' writers the Council of the Writers Guild of America East has voted to send charges filed against Rivers to a trial board.
Rivers, a lifetime member of WGA East, faces a hearing before a three-person board over allegations she violated the union's rules by writing and by performing showrunner duties for the E! Network show.
'Fashion Police' writers have been on strike since April 17 over the network's refusal to meet the WGA's demand for jurisdiction over the series.
The writers have filed complaints with the state of California alleging that E! and Rivers' Rugby Prods., which jointly employ the scribes, had not paid $1.5 million in wages and overtime. The WGA, which assisted in the filing of the claims, is sanctioning the strike and has told the 12,000 members not to work on the show until the matter is settled.
E! has said repeatedly that it will not grant the writers union recognition without an election supervised by the National Labor Relations Board. The WGA has responded by asserting that the requirement of an NLRB election is a stalling tactic.
The WGA East said Wednesday, 'The writers on that show are paid a fraction of industry-standard compensation and receive no health or pension benefits.'
The WGA East said that the trial board of three members will be appointed shortly with Rivers given the opportunity to present her case directly to the trial board.
'We are distressed by reports that Joan Rivers, who worked so hard to create an illustrious career, turned her back on other writers who are still building careers of their own,' said WGA East president Michael Winship in a statement.
'The question of whether she has, in fact, violated our working rules will be decided by the trial board,' he added. 'We cannot pre-judge the outcome, but we can say that it is a very serious matter when a member is accused of writing and showrunning on a non-covered show, and continuing to do so after the other writers have decided to go on strike for reasonable pay and benefits.'
On Tuesday, the Writers Guild of America West released video testimonials from the striking writers.
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