The actress and ‘It Ends with Us’ director/star Justin Baldoni could be headed to trial if they don’t first reach a settlement, legal expert Gregory Doll, who’s not involved in the case, tells PEOPLE
Blake Lively could be headed to trial over the claims made in her sexual harassment complaint against Justin Baldoni, a legal expert tells PEOPLE.
According to Gregory Doll, who is a partner at Doll Amir & Eley in Los Angeles, Lively, 37, could go to court if a “mediation solution” is not worked out between herself and her It Ends with Us costar Baldoni, 40, over his alleged harassment towards her on the set of the film, which was detailed in the complaint she filed this week. (Doll is not involved in the case and does not represent either party.)
Lively is suing Baldoni, who also directed the adaptation of the Colleen Hoover novel, for sexual harassment, followed by a retaliatory public smear campaign to “destroy” her reputation. Other members of the production team and the individuals said to be involved in the alleged smear campaign against her are also part of the complaint. Lively is seeking unspecified damages.
Bryan Freedman, Baldoni’s lawyer, told PEOPLE in a statement on Dec. 21 that Lively’s complaint was to “fix her negative reputation.” He added that her allegations are “false, outrageous and intentionally salacious with an intent to publicly hurt.”
Freedman also alleged that Lively caused issues during the filming of the movie, including “threatening to not show up to set, threatening to not promote the film, ultimately leading to its demise during release.”
Lively, meanwhile, issued a statement to The New York Times, saying, “I hope that my legal action helps pull back the curtain on these sinister retaliatory tactics to harm people who speak up about misconduct and helps protect others who may be targeted.”
The California Civil Rights Department, where Lively filed the complaint, has 60 days to decide if they’re investigating the case. Doll tells PEOPLE they might “try to mediate a solution with the employer [Baldoni]” and Wayfarer Studios, whom Lively is also suing, before accepting the lawsuit.
If settlement can’t be reached, “they’ll dismiss and give [Lively] what’s called the right to sue letter,” Doll further explains. “[This] means that she can go to court now and submit her claim there.”
Doll says that, while it is common in Hollywood to settle in legal cases, Lively’s complaint has the potential to go to trial over the specific allegations made.
“The most likely cases that don’t [settle] are the ones like these where it gets intensely personal between two people,” he tells PEOPLE. “The reason is … when you get into what we call discovery, when you are exchanging documents and you find out some of the things that happen behind the scenes that you didn’t know about, the plaintiff gets outraged.”
“She’s going to see more texts and more emails and more damages … and it might be like, ‘I’m taking this to trial where I’m going to expose this whole thing,’ ” Doll adds.
However, the lawyer says that he believes that mediation is more likely to occur in this case.
“If [Lively]’s primary goal was just to get this narrative out there and expose what he was doing, she’s already doing that,” Doll says. “She may not want to follow up with years of a lawsuit … She may not want to follow up with much of litigation, she’s already getting her narrative out there in the press.”
Doll also tells PEOPLE that he believes that Baldoni will “one hundred percent” countersue against Lively.
“I could see some small exception where they wouldn’t, but based on what I have observed, it’s almost guaranteed that he will file a counterclaim,” he says.
Following Lively’s complaint, Baldoni was dropped by his talent agency WME on Dec. 21.
