'The Big Bang Theory' Cast & Crew News: Former Assistant Director Accuses Show of Age Discrimination, Files Lawsuit Against Studio
Apparently, "The Big Bang Theory" is experiencing just as much drama off screen as it is on screen.
On Monday, the show's former second assistant director filed a lawsuit at the Los Angeles Superior Court against the show's parent company, Warner Bros. Television, for alleged age discrimination.
In the suit, Christopher Klausen, 55, states that he worked on the popular CBS comedy for seven years, starting in 2007. However, he claims he was illegally terminated after the eighth season and the cast and crew discriminated against him multiple times after he turned 50 years old.
"Mr. Klausen was subjected to discrimination, repeated demotions, and eventually terminated because of age," states the 25-page complaint suit, according to Cinema Blend.
Klausen, whose TV credits include "Diff'rent Strokes" and "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air," argues the studio and members of the production staff gradually began to reduce his workload beginning in the show's sixth season in 2012, reports The Hollywood Reporter. The producers also reassigned his duties of interacting with the actors to Nicole Lorre, "who was in her early-to-mid twenties," and T. Ryan Brennan, "who was in his early thirties."
He claims when he asked producer Faye Oshima Belyeu why his duties were assigned, she told him they "related to the actors better," states his complaint. "The only reason that Ms. Lorre and Mr. Brennan 'relate[d] to the actors better' are because they are younger than Mr. Klausen," it reads.
In addition, "Mr. Klausen noticed that the stars of the show, which are all considerably younger, began to ostracise [sic.] him after he turned fifty (50) years old," says the complaint.
He also says that younger people on the set were given duties that would typically be designated a 2nd Assistant Director.
By Season 7, Klausen says he was demoted from second assistant director to the uncredited position of second second assistant director. He adds that he was often asked to fill in for the first assistant director during the production of the seventh season, which he says proves that he was considered fit for the job.
After the eighth season of the series, Klausen says Oshima Belyeu illegally terminated him without proving his work performance was subpar. As a result, he says he was forced to conclude he was fired for his age.
Season 9 of "The Big Bang Theory" is set to premiere on CBS on Sept. 21.
According to Zap2It, the description for the first episode of the new season reads as follows:
"Brilliant Sheldon is confronted by a mystery of the universe he cannot unravel: when a woman wants time apart to think, exactly how much time does that mean, and is there any way to hurry the process along? In Las Vegas, Penny and Leonard march closer to marching down the aisle, but has Penny gotten over Leonard's infidelity? And if so, will he do anything to un-get her over it?"
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