🗞️ NLRB Finds TV Producer Unlawfully Purged Union-Organizing Crew From 'Beyond Belief' Set
The National Labor Relations Board ruled that X Factor S2 LLC unlawfully fired four IATSE-affiliated grip and electrical crew members from a 2023 California shoot, a day after they moved to unionize the production.
The National Labor Relations Board on August 5 affirmed that X Factor S2 LLC, an Escondido, California production company, violated federal labor law when it discharged its entire grip and electrical crew in July 2023 after learning they were trying to organize the set, according to the Board's decision and order in Case 31-CA-323348.
The crew, gaffer Noah Kelly, best boy gaffer Andrew Choe, key grip Sean Hunt and best boy grip Steven Miller, was working on the second season of "X Factor (Beyond Belief)," a revival of the Jonathan Frakes-hosted series produced for the Munich-based studio Wiedemann and Berg, according to the underlying decision. Kelly, a member of International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) Local 728, contacted the union about organizing the nonunion project on July 5, 2023, and by July 10 three of the four crew members had signed digital authorization cards.
Hours after the cards began circulating, the production's executive producer, Daniel Castro, emailed the director of photography that he had gotten "a heads up that Noah is talking about flipping the show," and the next day told him he "could not have a [Union] rep coming down and having a vote happen," according to the decision. That night, Castro gave the four-person crew the following day off, then brought in replacements described in hearing testimony as "inexperienced students." The crew was never called back to the production, which wrapped filming in mid-September 2023 using what a witness called a "relatively revolving door" of replacement workers.
Castro, representing the company without a lawyer, did not appear at the January 2026 hearing before Administrative Law Judge Andrew S. Gollin, citing financial hardship, and the company presented no evidence in its defense. The judge found the reasons Castro gave employees at the time for their removal, including a purported Screen Actors Guild strike scheduling issue and a claim the crew did not "vibe well" with others on set, were pretextual. The Board adopted the judge's findings in full and modified the remedial notice to make explicit the company's obligation to offer the four workers reinstatement.
Key Points
- The NLRB found X Factor S2 LLC violated Sections 8(a)(1) and (3) of the National Labor Relations Act by discharging four crew members for union activity.
- The company must offer the workers reinstatement, back pay with compounding interest, and compensation for job-search costs and adverse tax consequences of lump-sum back pay.
- Executive producer Daniel Castro's July 2023 email and statements to the director of photography were cited as direct evidence the firings were motivated by the union organizing effort.
- The company did not appear at its own hearing and offered no evidence to rebut the allegations.
- IATSE Local 728 filed the original unfair labor practice charge on August 4, 2023; the Board issued its final decision on August 5, 2026.
Sourcing
Primary Source: National Labor Relations Board
Primary Source Link: X Factor S2 LLC, Case 31-CA-323348
Supplemental Links:
