Something of a summary of the suit, and how things could play out:
https://thedaoofdrag...nd-monica-rial/
It's most likely that Funimation will try to settle this before this goes to court; justified or not, they're a business, and they don't want to spend more money than they have to. If this happens and Vic still feels vindicated because of it, in their eyes it's still the better alternative.
As the article says, it seems like Vic is confident that the victims and his former co-workers can't provide evidence of their claims. But if they can, this could open him up to some more legal trouble.
It should be noted that Sony, who is Funi's largest shareholder, conducted an investigation of their own. Whether or not they found sufficient evidence at this point in time is anyone's guess, but it's likely that however they arrived at their conclusion, they told Funimation to fire him.
Wrongful termination is something hard to argue in Texas, from what I understand (Nate River is probably more qualified to explain this than me, if he's interested). Current laws seem to allow employers to fire anyone for just about any reason.
As for the defamation, now the burden of proof is on Vic to prove these were lies, and with malicious intent. Having a big twitter following isn't going to cut it in court.
While most I've seen discuss this say that this isn't likely going to happen, the case may even be thrown out if having the "victims" come forward would endanger them (swatting, harassment, death threats, etc)
As for Vic Mignonga himself, I see stupidity on both sides of this matter.
Because it's the most popular one to take a side on, I'm going to trigger some people by attacking IStandWithVic first (to put simple labels on the two camps respectively). I feel like the "IStandWithVic" crowd can be incredibly tone deaf in some instances. Yes, Vic should not be jailed without a proper trial, and we SHOULD value evidence over heresay. However, these accusations didn't come out all at once, but built upon for YEARS, as far back as 1989 according to some. At this point that's not solely heresay, but that's a clear pattern of something happening. You don't get this kind of rep for simply being a christian; after all, there are plenty of anime fans who are proud christians and conservatives. Vic Mignonga, as far as I know Todd Haberkon (I think) was accused of rape, but pretty much dispelled the rumor when he revealed that he and the "victim" texted after the said event. If this is some weird twitter backlash that sunk Vic's career, I'd imagine it should have affected Haberkon with even worse results. There are other voice actors just as prolific as Vic (Steve Blum and Johnny Young Bosch come to mind)
And then there's the argument that "I met Vic, and he was like this...(insert something positive)". All I'll say is that celebrities of all kinds are often one person on camera/talking with a fan and completely different with someone else. I mean, look at Watsuki. You read his author notes in RK, he seems like a very down to earth guy, even going as far as to write about being concerned about the AIDS epidemic. Then we find out he's a pedophile,and no one sees this coming.
Also, these people seem to not understand how sexual harassment often works. It's not like full-blown rape, but it's often a very quick touch, and a lot of times victims are afraid to come forward, especially with today's toxic internet culture.
I'll also speak from experience on this (and I'm a man, btw). One day at work, I approached a customer and his dog to see if they needed help with anything. I went along with my pitch, it seemed to be going well, and just as he was about to leave, OUT OF NOWHERE, he pinches my nipple and takes off. I was more shell-shocked than anything and couldn't believe it happened to me. After I calmed down, I didn't make a big deal out of it and thought it would just be a crazy story to share with friends.
I think about two weeks later, he shows up again. I didn't recognize him at first (you see a lot of faces in sales), and again patted me on the same spot. I silently kept my distance from him, and saw how he was acting friendly with the female manager there. I asked to speak with her after they were done. I figured I was going to tell her to watch out for this guy, because he's inappropriately touching other people (or at least me). To my shock, she and the other guy are friends, and sighs, saying she's not surprised by his behavior before I even tell her what happened. She tries to be nice, saying she's not going to defend whatever he does. I can imagine how uncomfortable others feel when they realize others know about one's inappropriate behavior and do nothing about it.
Back on topic, I also think there's a lot of stupidity with KickVic as well. First, I think the character attacks outside of the sexual allegations are way overblown. He's a homophobe because he refused to sign yaoi fanart? Uh, there are worse things you can do to show you're a homophobe. He made a holocaust joke? Again, bad joke does not mean anti-semitism. At least Mel Gibson literally said "Jews are responsible for all the problems in the world." Eating a jelly bean with Monica's name on it? Really? Look, I understand if you believe the accusations you want to demonize the said person as much as possible, but make it about something that really matters. Don't pick on petty stuff that can be blown off between "could have been handled better" to "yeah, he was a jerk about that".
As I said before, Rial's and Marchie's tweets were also handled VERY badly. I'm more miffed with Marchie's, since you implied wanting to harm him. Um, threatening the accused with physical violence isn't the right way to go about accusations, plus this doesn't look good on you IF by some off-shot we can definitively prove these are all lies. For Rial, she said she was going to "come forward with my story"...and I haven't heard anything since. Then she does an about face and claims that this is hard for her, as she claims she still thinks of Vic as a friend.
Hypothetically, this is what they should have said:
Marchie: I am very upset about hearing these allegations, and feel this matter should be investigated more fully. Just remember, no matter who you are, touching someone without their permission is NEVER okay
Rial: It really saddens me to say this, as I still think of Vic as a friend, but I feel I have to come out and say I've experienced some of what he's accused of (Insert story of your choice here). We should have all come forward with this before, and if doing so would have saved others from pain, we are all so sorry for not speaking up sooner. It could have saved everyone, including Vic, a lot of trouble.
ANN should have also done their research with the photos they used, but their so-called journalism is as shoddy as always.
And ironically, I have ALSO been accused of sexual harassment (I don't think you've heard someone claiming to be on both ends, have you?). Though, I must warn you...the story is so ridiculous that it's probably not what you were hoping for in that regard.
This was in sixth grade, this one kid (another boy) kept accusing me of sexually harassing him. The teachers set up meetings with us and questioned both of us. I vehemently denied them every time of course, while he insisted. Looking back, I don't think the teachers were convinced by him either. He was EXTREMELY neurotic, insulting everyone at random, stuffing apples down his shirt and daring us to touch them, and when he didn't want to leave the class for whatever reason, got on all fours and literally behaved like a jackass. Obviously, NO ONE wanted to get near him if they could, and eventually he left the school (I don't know if his parents pulled him out or if he was expelled altogether). So, yeah. It hasn't haunted me since then; I certainly didn't appreciate it at the time (though I don't think most 12 year olds grasp the seriousness of harassment) but looking back on it now I do laugh.
I think what's really frustrating to me about this whole Vic mess is that none of us really know what happened, and none of us are getting good answers and are forced to go with our own guts and biases. On one hand, I'm skeptical with the KV side because they make a lot of other superfluous claims, the two VAs I mentioned have done their side no favors with the way they handled it, and we should be mad at people who had inside knowledge about this if true and didn't speak up sooner.
On the other, I'm not trusting ISWV either. Most of them had a very toxic attitude over the matter, and most of the youtubers covering this I've observed are not very trustworthy sources to begin with. And while they are correct we need firm evidence before we bring someone in Vic's situation to trial, they are also part of the greater problem by dismissing these as lies altogether. Again, this is why women often don't come forward with these things in the first place: people simply choose not to believe them because of lack of "evidence", and if they try, they are often threatened by others
If this trial IS taken to court, no matter what happens, some good will come out of it. Both sides will tell their stories, and hopefully it will paint a clearer picture, if not definitively prove one side or the other wrong.