Baldwin, assistant director Dave Hall, armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, the Rust Movie Productions LLC and others are listed as defendants in the suit and are accused of negligence that caused emotional distress to chief lighting technician Serge Svetnoy as a result of the shooting.
“The acts and failures to act by [the defendants] constituted despicable conduct committed in willful, wanton, reckless, conscious, deliberate, aggravated, outrageous, and reprehensible disregard for the interests, rights, and safety of the cast and crew of Rust. As a direct and proximate result of the conduct described above, Plaintiff is entitled to recover from [the defendants] punitive and exemplary damages,” the court filing said on Wednesday.
Svetnoy was present during the shooting, which left Hutchins dead and Souza seriously wounded by a live round accidentally fired by Baldwin, and held Hutchins as she succumbed to the gunshot wound, the court filing said.
Crew members, including Gutierrez-Reed and Halls, failed to properly inspect the firearm prior to the shooting and the ammunition on set was not securely stored, Svetnoy said in the court filing.
Svetnoy is seeking compensatory, general, special, exemplary and punitive damages against the defendants and is demanding a trial by jury, the court filing said.