Olivia De Havilland was frustrated by the roles she kept being given and by the fact she was quickly being typecast as a damsel in distress and began to reject scripts that offered her this type of role.
Warner Bros punished her for this by suspending her for 6 months.
Then when her contract with Warner Bros expired she was informed that the sixth months she was suspended for would be added to the end of her contract. At the time it was legal for studios to do this.
As a result of this, the studio could maintain complete control over an uncooperative contractee. Most film stars accepted this situation but a few tried to change the system.
In 1940's Olivia built a lawsuit against Warner Bros, supported by the Screen Actors Guild and won. By winning she gained the respect and admiration of her peers. Also she reduced the power of the studios and gave the film stars more creative freedom.
After she won Warners Bros vowed never to hire her again.
After being fired from Warner Bros Olivia signed a three year picture deal with Paramount Pictures.
The quality and variety of her roles began to improve. Also she was now able to decline roles without being punished by her studio.
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