Award-winning visual effects guru Andrew MacDonald was fired from Ascent Media Group after calling out the drug use of one of his superiors, reports The Hollywood Reporter.
Visual effects supervisor Alex Frisch—best known for his work on films such as the "Pirates of the Carribbean franchise—was often referred to as "Power Donut Man" and "Cokey the Clown" in the office, according to papers filed by MacDonald.
MacDonald sued AMG, not Frisch personally, in September 2010, after he was terminated from the company for telling an exec he was worried about Frisch's "open and notorious drug abuse at the office during working hours."
When asked if he had proof of the drug use, MacDonald jokingly asked the exec if he should videotape the bathroom. But the next day, MacDonald met with an AMG in-house lawyer, who accused him of actually videotaping the bathroom and charged him with lying before he was eventually terminated.
While Frisch has denied all of the claims, a jury ruled Wednesday that MacDonald should be awarded $450K—two years worth of salary for wrongful termination. And MacDonald will back in court Wednesday to collect punitive damages.
Meanwhile, Frisch is no longer even working at AMG, as he left to co-found a new visual effects studio that works with musical artists.
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