## Facts

- Larry Ferguson, a screenwriter, was hired by Paramount Pictures Corporation to write a screenplay for *Beverly Hills Cop II*.
- The Writers Guild of America, West, Inc. administered the contract-based credit determination process for the film.
- On April 27, 1987, the Guild issued final credits: “Screenplay by Larry Ferguson and Warren Skaaren; Story by Eddie Murphy & Robert D. Wachs.”
- Ferguson contended he was entitled to sole screenplay credit and sole story credit.
- Credit determinations were governed by a collective bargaining agreement (the 1985 Theatrical and Television Basic Agreement) and the Guild’s Credits Manual prescribing arbitration and internal review procedures.
- On May 15, 1987, Ferguson filed a petition for writ of mandate seeking an order compelling the Guild to set aside its credit determination and issue new credits awarding him sole screenplay and story credit.
- The superior court denied the petition and denied reconsideration; Ferguson appealed.

## Issues

1. What is the scope of judicial review over a private association’s internal credit determination made under contract-based procedures.
2. Whether a challenger must exhaust the Guild’s internal remedies, including presenting specific procedural objections to the Guild’s internal review body, before seeking judicial relief.
3. Whether Ferguson demonstrated a material and prejudicial departure from the procedures required by the Credits Manual sufficient to justify mandate relief.

## Decision

- The Court of Appeal affirmed the judgment denying Ferguson’s petition for writ of mandate.
- The court held that judicial review of the Guild’s credit determination is limited to whether the challenger proved a material and prejudicial departure from the procedures specified in the Credits Manual.
- The court held that Ferguson failed to preserve most of his alleged procedural objections because he did not show they were presented to the Guild’s internal Policy Review Board.
- Applying the limited review standard, the court found no showing of a material and prejudicial procedural violation warranting judicial intervention.
- The Guild’s credit determination remained in effect.

## Legal Principles

- A court’s review of a private association’s internal adjudication conducted under agreed procedures is narrowly confined to whether there was a material and prejudicial procedural departure.
- Courts do not reweigh evidence, reassess creative contributions, or substitute their own credit determination for that of the Guild’s expert process.
- A party challenging an internal determination must exhaust the association’s available internal remedies and must present specific procedural objections to the designated internal review body to preserve them for judicial review.
- Failure to exhaust and preserve issues through the internal review process bars or forfeits those issues in subsequent court proceedings seeking mandate relief.

## Conclusion

The court affirmed denial of mandate because Ferguson did not properly exhaust and preserve most procedural challenges within the Guild’s internal review process and, in any event, did not demonstrate a material and prejudicial departure from the credit procedures that would justify overturning the Guild’s credit determination.


Ferguson v. Writers Guild of Am., W., Inc., 226 Cal. App. 3d 1382 (Cal. Ct. App. 1991)