Actor wins quashing of subpoena served on nonprofit group

Former “General Hospital” actor Ingo Rademacher – – who was fired in 2021 after 25 years with the show for opposing the network’s directive to be vaccinated against the coronavirus — won a split round in court when a judge quashed a network subpoena seeking records from a nonprofit group, allegedly to see if the organization is funding his case.

The 51-year-old Rademacher sued ABC last Dec. 13. He alleges ABC wrongfully denied him a religious exemption and used the employee mandatory vaccination policy as an excuse to fire him. The company made it look like they wanted him to stay, but claimed they could not accommodate him in order to disguise that he was being terminated for other reasons, the actor further alleges.

The actor’s motion to quash, heard Monday by Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Stephen I. Goorvitch, involved an ABC subpoena served on Protection for the Educational Rights of Kids. PERK’s website states it is a grassroots organization dedicated to empowering parents and educators to take an active role in education-centered legislation.

“The court grants the motion with respect to documents relating to the financing of the instant lawsuit, including the identities of the donors and the amounts of money contributed,” the judge wrote.

The fact that PERK, a secular organization, supports Rademacher’s lawsuit does not necessarily call into question the genuineness of the actor’s religious beliefs, according to Goorvitch.

“At best, it may constitute evidence of PERK’s beliefs,” according to the judge, who in his ruling also noted that he reviewed several emails between Rademacher and PERK that he found were privileged and not accessible by ABC.

However, the judge said ABC is not stopped from seeking evidence of statements Rademacher made in the context of raising money.

“In other words, the mere fact that plaintiff made statements in connection with fundraising shall not prevent those statements from being discovered,” the judge wrote. “Nor shall this order preclude defendant from seeking evidence of plaintiff’s support of secular organizations like PERK.”

According to Rademacher’s attorneys’ court papers, ABC wrongfully sought confidential communications and attorney work product between Rademacher, his lawyer and “a speculated litigation funder,” all of which do nothing to prove the actor’s claims or the network’s defenses.

“The subpoena is merely ABC’s campaign of intimidation to harass and pressure Ingo to drop the case against them,” Rademacher’s lawyers state in their court papers. “As an ill-fated means of garnering litigation leverage in this action, ABC has set about to intentionally harass every single person that Ingo may have spoken to in the last five years to destroy Ingo’s character and ascertain how someone could afford to bring such a case against ABC.”

The network is not entitled to sensitive, private information that is irrelevant to Rademacher’s allegations concerning privacy rights and unlawful discrimination, through a subpoena or otherwise, nor is ABC permitted to know whether any person or entity is financing his lawsuit, according to the actor’s attorneys’ court papers.

In a sworn declaration, Rademacher says he and PERK had discussions both with and without his attorney present. He further says he expected that any talks with PERK would remain confidential.

“The disclosure of this information — all communication or information provided to PERK — is an improper intrusion on my constitutional privacy rights and attorney-client relationship,” Rademacher says. “Whether I obtain litigation funding or not for this case, such a decision and information surrounding the same is my own prerogative and a private matter.”

Rademacher portrayed the character of tycoon Jasper “Jax” Jacks on “General Hospital.” He is a member of the board of Heal the Bay, a Santa Monica-based environmental organization.

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