Lee Daniels Face SAG-AFTRA Lawsuit Over Residuals; 'Empire' Exec Producer No Show In Court?

Co-creator of Fox's "Empire," Lee Daniels was hit with a lawsuit Tuesday from SAG-AFTRA, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

The labor guild has been in a six-year battle with Daniels' over residuals and claimed his company failed to make required health contributions and pension to the performers on his film, "Shadowboxer."

The 2005 crime thriller was Daniels' directorial feature debut, which starred Helen Mirren, Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Cuba Gooding Jr., revealed Deadline.

Just approximately a month ago, the Oscar-nominated director was honored by the SAG-AFTRA and now the union took Daniels to confidential arbitration all the way back in 2009.

Daniels failed to send along required reports about the distribution of the movie or make payments, according to the complaint.

Based on a 2011 arbitration decision, Lee Daniels did not attend the hearing and the arbitrator awarded SAG-AFTRA more than $335,000. This is made up of $25,323 in health and pension contributions, $93,544 in late payment liquidated damages and $169,630 in residuals, plus expenses and taxes.

"Subsequent to the issuance of the (2011 arbitration) award, SAG-AFTRA served a notice of assignment to attach revenue generated by the distribution of the film," said the union's spokesperson.

The performers union spokesperson did not explain seeming lack of diligence in contacting the director.

There is a four-year statute of limitations law in California, which is probably why the guild did not wait any longer to pursue the claim.

"While we were able to recover a modest amount of the debt over the last few years, we determined that foreclosure on the film would yield the best result for the cast and therefore sought to confirm the award and move forward with a foreclosure sale at this time," shared the spokesperson.

SAG and AFTRA merged in 2012, creating SAG-AFTRA and assumed the assets of the predecessor unions, reported Variety.

Lee Daniels' "Shadowboxer" grossed around $500,000 in the box office and went on to direct "Precious," "The Butler," "The Paperboy," and "Lee Daniels." He is also the executive producer of "Empire."

Daniels had no comment about the filing.