'Action' in legal state of Grace
Company is threatening litigation over pic portrayal
The W.R. Grace company's prolonged litigation in a liability suit filed against it for dumping carcinogenic chemicals in a Massachusetts's town's water supply is a key component of "A Civil Action," the John Travolta vehicle Touchstone will release at Christmas. Now Grace is threatening litigation over the film.
Letters have been flying between each company's legal consul ever since plans for the film were announced. At this time, the point of contention is over how W.R. Grace's plea to a felony count of filing a false statement to the Environmental Protection Agency will be portrayed at the film's end.
The company wants it clear that it pled guilty to only one count, not the two counts as was stated in Jonathan Harr's bestseller; that this was an "Alford plea," which is similar to a no-contest plea, where a defendant can still assert innocence; and the EPA charge was a separate issue from the original liability suit.
"We are clearly concerned about our reputation," said W.R. Grace spokeswoman Jane McGuinness, who declined to discuss the threatened litigation, saying, "It's something I am not comfortable talking about."
Touchstone maintains that any inaccuracies in the book will be corrected in the film and if the final cut has a reference to W.R Grace's plea it will be "accurate, truthful and non-defamatory."
