Judge tosses out lawsuit, black maid wants it reinstated
JACKSON – ‘The Help,’ based on Mississippi-native Kathryn Stockett’s best-selling novel, dominated the box office this weekend sweeping away the competition, including last week’s big box office draw, ‘Rise of the Planet of the Apes.’ ‘The Help,’ which had an unexpectedly strong opening, also peaked ahead of new wide releases, ‘Spy Kids: All the Time in the World,’ ‘Conan the Barbarian,’ ‘Fright Night’ and ‘One Day.’
Despite a controversial lawsuit filed by a black maid in Jackson, sources said ‘The Help,’ which was largely filmed in Greenwood and other Mississippi locations, drew an estimated $20.5 million this weekend on a total of 2,690 screens.
Earlier this year, 60-year-old Ablene Cooper, who works for Stockett’s brother, sued Stockett alleging that the main character in the film, Aibileen Clark, was based on her. Cooper said her image and likeness were used in the film without her permission.
‘The Help’ is based on relationships between white families in Mississippi and the black women who worked for them in the 1960s
Cooper was seeking $75,000 in damages.
A Hinds County judge, however, dismissed Cooper’s case last week stating that a one-year statute of limitations elapsed between the time Stockett gave Cooper a copy of the book in January 2009 and the time of the lawsuit’s filing in February of this year.
Cooper’s attorney, Edward Sanders, has since filed a motion for reconsideration saying that the clock should not have started ticking on the statute of limitations until Cooper read the book in the summer of 2010, The Associated Press said. Sanders argued that Cooper didn’t read it sooner because Stockett said in a handwritten note that, despite the similarity in names, the Aibileen Clark character wasn’t based on Cooper.
Sanders submitted to the court a copy of the handwritten letter along with his motion for reconsideration.
In the letter, Stockett says she only met Cooper a few times, but was thankful she worked for the writer’s brother because his kids love her so much. The letter was sent to Cooper with a copy of “The Help,” court records said.
“One of the main characters, and my favorite character, is an African American child carer named Aibileen,” the letter said. “Although the spelling is different from yours, and the character was born in 1911, I felt I needed to reach out and tell you that the character isn’t based on you in any way.”
The letter goes on to say the book is “purely fiction” and inspired by Stockett’s relationship with “Demetrie, who looked after us and we loved dearly.” The letter is referring to Demetrie McLorn, the Stockett family’s housekeeper, who died when the author was a teenager.
In a Judgment of Opinion, Judge Tomie T. Green said Cooper “should have known…that she had potential claims against Stockett,” and that she “voluntarily closed her eyes to the light after her receipt of the novel in 2009.” Judge Green also said, Cooper “admits Stockett gave her an advance copy of “The Help” to read, and…she chose not to read it.”
Judge Green said she has not received the motion for a rehearing on Cooper’s case.
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