DEADPOOL 2 Producers Fined Nearly $300,000 For The Death Of Stuntwoman Joi Harris

DEADPOOL 2 Producers Fined Nearly $300,000 For The Death Of Stuntwoman Joi Harris

Back in August 2017, a stuntwoman on the set of Deadpool 2 was killed in a motorcycle crash. Now, one of the sequel's production companies has been hit with a hefty fine for their role in what happened.

By JoshWilding - May 08, 2020 06:05 AM EST
Filed Under: Deadpool 2
Source: Deadline

Deadline reports that the producers of Deadpool 2 have been hit with a $289,562 fine for failing to provide a safe workplace for a stuntwoman Joi Harris. She was killed in a motorcycle crash on the Vancouver set of the sequel in August 2017, and the penalty has been imposed on TCF Vancouver Productions LTD by WorkSafeBC, the United States equivalent of OSHA.

Harris was performing her first movie stunt when she was killed after being ejected from the motorcycle she was riding and ended up crashing through the plate-glass window of a nearby building. 

"The primary purpose of an administrative penalty is to motivate the employer receiving the penalty — and other employers — to comply with occupational health and safety requirements and to keep their workplaces safe," the agency said before revealing the five violations made by TCF. 

• Failure to ensure the health and safety of all workers by failing to identify the hazards and assess and control the risks of the work activity and failing to provide adequate supervision.
• Failure to ensure that the stunt performer complied with the Regulation by wearing safety headgear while operating the motorcycle.
• Failure to ensure the health and safety of the stunt performer by failing to provide adequate supervision with respect to this work activity.
• Failure to provide the stunt performer with a new worker orientation.
• Instructing the stunt performer not to wear safety headgear while operating the motorcycle.

Before joining the Deadpool 2 crew, Harris became the first African-American woman licensed to actively compete in American Motorcyclist Association races. She was only 32 when she died.

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TexasAvenger
TexasAvenger - 5/8/2020, 6:58 AM
$300,000 seems like a really low price to pay for someone losing their life on your production.....
Kumkani
Kumkani - 5/8/2020, 7:00 AM
We all blindly praise practical stunt work and effects, and we all complain about the use of CGI when we find out about it or when it's obvious (especially with superhero movies), but none of us absolutely talk about the real risks that are involved with stunt work. We only see the end product that looks great and thrills us, but these guys risk their health and lives all the time.

It's really sad what happened to Joi Harris, and that it was mostly kept on the low.
Spock0Clock
Spock0Clock - 5/8/2020, 10:46 AM
@Necropolitan - I try to remain conscious of it, myself. Listening to stunt people themselves, they seem to enjoy and value their craft so I'm reluctant to call for systemic changes. (I haven't read the details of Harris' case, so I'm not speaking to that. Negligence is unacceptable, period.)

Being a stunt coordinator has got to be such a tough job. Of course, they do everything they can to mitigate risk, but so often it's you and the performers pushing for a novel kind of sequence. They're competitive, creative people who want to explore new ways of visual storytelling. Even when everyone is competent and experienced, there is risk.

The real armchair producers that piss me off are the people who want the actors to do stunts, too. I admire an actor who is game for it of course, but nobody should pressure anyone to do this kind of work if they're not 100% enthusiastic about it. Stunt people train like crazy, they learn how to tumble, and even they hurt themselves. An ordinary actor (or person) with just an ordinary workout regime can seriously hurt themselves as simply as rolling an ankle.

Just because Tom Cruise has a death wish doesn't mean every other actor should feel the peer pressure to do the same kind of lunacy.
FoxForce5
FoxForce5 - 5/8/2020, 10:07 AM
I would actually be surprised if a judgment like this doesn't fall under the Production Insurance policy the company had. I've never worked on a film with many stunts so I'm not sure where those policies would land but, on low budget, you generally start at a $1 million and it only goes up from there. Of course, as they're citing failure to maintain safe and regulated conditions, it may not be covered.

Regardless, it was a sad and tragic accident which will hopefully not be repeated on a set!
AnthonyVonGeek
AnthonyVonGeek - 5/8/2020, 10:14 AM
The movie raked in 785 million and that’s all they could afford to pay her family? They probably would have paid more if Disney never bought Fox but those Disney lawyers are evil beasts. 🤷‍♂️🤦‍♂️👎
adamcawa
adamcawa - 5/8/2020, 12:03 PM
@AnthonyVonGeek - they asked her to do the stunt without a helmet and she agreed. She lost control. It's unfortunate but it's not like something went wrong that could have been prevented. There's no way to know that she would have lived had she been wearing a helmet. There's no question that not wearing the helmet contributed to her death, hence the fine. But this wasn't a lawsuit or a settlement. It was a fine for having her do a stunt without a helmet. That's basically it.

Chances are a lawsuit wouldn't turn out in the family's favor anyway because they would have to prove that she felt pressured into agreeing to do the stunt without the helmet for fear of losing her job.
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