May 2009 Archives

Hey-oh!

Here is the FULL document from Allred's office.

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Contact: Gloria Allred

(323) 653-6530

  E-mail: gallred@amglaw.com

Today we have filed a Petition in Orange County Superior Court on behalf of our client, Paul Petersen, who is President of "A Minor Consideration" ("AMC").  Our Petition asks the court to protect the financial interests and opportunities of Nadya Suleman's octuplets by appointing a Guardian over the estate of these 8 infants.  We are not seeking nor do we desire to have custody of these babies.  

We have taken this action because we know that Nadya Suleman, as the mother of these 8 infants and their 6 siblings, has entered into contracts and received payments for still photos and videos of her octuplets and she has stated  that she will have a reality show with her children produced by Eyeworks as well.  She reportedly said "It is going to be an ongoing thing and it will follow them from now until they are 18".  

"A Minor Consideration" is an organization, which for many years, has been actively working to advance the interests and rights of child performers.  They have been successful in lobbying for laws which require that the earnings of children of all ages be protected and not spent or wasted by their parents or third parties; so that when the child reaches the age of majority (age 18 in California) they will be able to have access to and enjoy the fruits of their labor.  

In the case of the octuplets, rather than choosing to provide her children with a normal life their mother, Nadya Suleman, has chosen instead to commercially exploit them, and it appears she plans  to continue commercial exploitation of them in the future as well.  Since she has chosen this path, we believe that the babies are entitled to remuneration, since much, if not most, of the compensation appears to be for the use of their images, in print, on television and on the internet.  

Our goal in seeking the appointment of a Guardian is to be sure that the babies receive their fair share of the payments under the contracts which have required that their images be shown, and that payments under those contracts be placed into separate accounts for them and preserved for them as required by law .

We also believe that a Guardian can and will seek to hire a professional agent for the babies different from the mother's representatives to be sure that commercial opportunities are explored, even if the mother will not benefit from those opportunities herself.

Most important, however, the Guardian will assure that the childrens' compensation is fair and that their money is segregated and supervised.  In other words, professional management will help to safeguard the babies' separate interests and rights.

The Guardian we have respectfully suggested be appointed by the court is Linda Rogers, a professional fiduciary who is licensed by the State of California, and who is known and highly respected in Orange County, where the infants reside.  She has agreed to assume the role of Guardian of the octuplets' estate if the court decides to appoint a Guardian, and if the court wishes to appoint her to assume that important responsibility.

The court has given us a hearing date of June 22, 2009, @ 1:45 p.m. for Case #30-2009-00265518-PR-GE-LJC in Dept. L73 of the Orange County Superior Court, Lamoreaux Justice Center, 341 The City Drive, Orange, CA,  for the first hearing in this case.  We look forward to that hearing, but it can be avoided for Ms. Suleman if she agrees with us that appointing a Guardian for the estate of the octuplets to represent and protect their interests is a good idea.  Ms. Suleman should realize that for the purposes of some commercial opportunities she may have a legal conflict or an appearance of conflict with her children.

Our plan will assure that there will be no question in the future that the babies' interests will be advanced and safeguarded because a Guardian for the octuplets will provide independent management and independent accountability.

When the octuplets reach the age of majority they will know that not one penny of earnings to which they are entitled has been spent by their mother or anyone else.  

In addition to filing the Petition with the court today, we have also sent a letter to the California Division of Labor Standards & Enforcement requesting an investigation into whether or not  there have been violations of California Law and regulations which are there for the protection of child performers (including infants).

It is our belief that any number of California Labor Laws and/or California regulations regarding children may have been violated by Ms. Suleman, potentially endangering the health, welfare and safety of her children. 

For example, the law requires that when filming/photographing of children takes place that a nurse and a credentialed studio teacher must be present at all times for infants 6 weeks to 6 months old.  (8 CCR 11760, 11755.2).  My clients, Angels in Waiting (AIW) and I were present when Ms. Suleman returned from the hospital on March 17, 2009 with two of her premature infants who were less than two months old.  Filming of these infants by media who had contracts to film and video took place inside Ms. Suleman's home on this date, but no studio teacher was present.  AIW nurses were also present on other dates when the infants were filmed, but no studio teacher appeared to be present.

An important role of the studio teacher is to assure that the filming location is safe for the child performer and that all laws for their protection are being followed.  That is the reason that the law requires that a studio teacher be present on the workplace set (in this case the infants' nursery).

Further, there are additional concerns regarding whether Ms. Suleman has complied with the state mandated hours that a child can "work."  Specifically, children ages 15 days to 6 months may only "work" two consecutive hours, between 9:30 am. and 11:30 a.m. or between 2:30 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. (8 CCR 11764).  According to state law, actual work may not exceed 20 minutes under any circumstances (8 CCR 11760).  On March 17, 2009, AIW and I were present when two of Ms. Suleman's premature infant octuplets, born on January 26, 2009, came home from the hospital.  We personally witnessed them returning to Ms. Suleman's home with her at approximately 10:00 p.m. and from that time until 11:50p.m. they were filmed continually by an entity with whom Ms. Suleman has a contract and others in violation of work hour regulations previously cited.

I commend Mr. Petersen for all of his important work in the past to protect child actors.  He has benefitted so many child performers in the past and once again he hopes to confer a benefit on these precious little infants by asking the court to protect their financial future.    

Gloria Allred

Attorney at Law

representing

 Paul Petersen 

May 4, 2009

NOTE: Co-Counsel in this case is the DEILY LAW FIRM.  

John Deily and his partner Cynthia Roehl are prominent experienced and highly regarded probate attorneys in Orange County and we look forward to working with them on this case.

Until next Time, LATES!