While actresses have brought ageism in Hollywood to the forefront, most still think about it as an issue for those in front of the camera. But an assistant director who worked on the most-watched sitcom on TV today, The Big Bang Theory, is hoping to change that. He filed an age discrimination lawsuit against the show’s production company, Warner Bros. TV, on Monday.
Christopher Klausen, a second assistant director on Big Bang since 2007, filed the suit in Los Angeles Superior Court, reports The Hollywood Reporter. He claims the studio and crew have been steadily decreasing his workload in recent seasons and finally fired him after season eight.
Klausen says that he began to see his work decrease when he turned 50 in 2012. Some of his duties had included working with actors Nicole Lorre and T. Ryan Brennan, who are both younger than him. But those duties were reassigned to someone who “related to the actors better,” he claims a producer told him.
At the start of the seventh season, he was demoted to a position that’s not even credited, second second assistant director. But he was often asked to step in for the first assistant director, which he claims proves that his skill wasn’t the reason for his demotion. When season eight started, he was fired over the phone.
This isn’t the first time those who work behind-the-scenes have filed suits in Hollywood, notes Deadline. Last year, Disney was sued by a veteran executive and a KNBC producer sued NBCUniversal.
Klausen is a 30-year veteran of the TV business, with credits dating back to Diff’rent Strokes. You can read his full complaint here.