John Ferriter, the former head of reality television at William Morris Agency and the only board member to vote against its merger with rival Endeavor, has sued the merged agency and its principals -- including top agents Ari Emanuel, Richard Rosen and Mark Itkin -- for unlawful termination, fraud, defamation and slander.  He is asking for damages of $25 million.

In a civil suit filed Nov. 17 in California Superior Court in Santa Monica, Ferriter claims that he was unjustly pushed out of the agency after the combination. In addition, he accuses five William Morris board members -- former Chairman Jim Wiatt, President Dave Wirtschafter, Chief Operating Officer Irv Weintraub, co-head of motion pictures John Fogelman and co-head of literary Jennifer Rudolph Walsh -- of "working out sweetheart deals for themselves to the detriment of shareholders and other employees" during merger talks.

Ferriter said that when William Morris Agency signed a new contract with him last December that guaranteed him compensation of at least $2 million a year, it didn't tell him that merger talks were taking place or that he was in jeopardy of losing his spot running the non-scripted television department.

Despite his vote against the deal, Ferriter claimed he was told by Emanuel and Rosen, then two of the three top agents at Endeavor, that there would be no changes to his job. After a two-month hospitalization, Ferriter said in the suit that he returned to work in July and learned that he was not on the new agency's board, was no longer a department head and was an "employee" rather than a "partner."

That prompted a public dispute between the two sides that played out in the press and ultimately led to a  November town hall meeting at which the agency allegedly announced it had terminated Ferriter "for cause," namely insubordination. Ferriter claimed that throughout the more than three-month dispute, the agency engaged in "fraud and misrepresentations, unlawful harassment, retaliation and reprisals" that damaged him personally and professionally. 

A William Morris Endeavor spokesperson could not immediately be reached for comment.

-- Dawn C. Chmielewski and Ben Fritz

Photo: Ari Emanuel with client Michael Moore at the September premiere of Moore's film "Capitalism: A Love Story." Credit: Kevin Winter / Getty Images.

The mating dance between rival agencies William Morris and Endeavor continues with the William Morris board set to discuss the potential marriage at a board meeting scheduled for tomorrow, and Endeavor's partners expect to follow suit shortly after, according to people close to the situation.

Though the ongoing talks have generated lots of attention and media scrutiny, a merger of the two competing talent shops is hardly Microsoft marrying Apple: Combined, the agencies would have estimated annual revenue of about $300 million.

But by joining forces, William Morris and Endeavor would create a talent juggernaut positioned to challenge Hollywood's top-seeded Creative Artists Agency. The combined entity would also, in theory, have more leverage in negotiating with the television and movie studios.

Driving the merger is a punishing economic climate in which fewer jobs for actors, directors and writers and a contracting market for TV shows mean lower commissions and fees for the agencies that depend upon them for their bread and butter.

Although talks are progressing and some Hollywood insiders think a deal is all but a fait accompli, there are still myriad unresolved issues that could scuttle or at least further delay a merger. However, with William Morris chief Jim Wiatt and Endeavor partner Ari Emanuel aggressively pushing for the deal, it seems to be more a matter of when rather than if.

How a merged William Morris/Endeavor would be structured is one of the biggest sticking points. Both have upper levels of management -- William Morris has 20 directors and Endeavor has 28 partners stocked with heavy egos and pocketing hefty paychecks. A merger could mean a thinning of the ranks from top to bottom and a bake-off among suits, which would no doubt result in many agents at the two firms looking to jump ship.

-- Joe Flint and Dawn C. Chmielewski

Photo Credits: Wiatt (top right) by Stephen Shugerman/Getty Images; Emanuel (lower left) by Eric Charbonneau/WireImage.com