# Alf Clausen Sues Fox



## patrick76 (Aug 5, 2019)

https://www.msn.com/en-us/music/news/longtime-simpsons-composer-alf-clausen-sues-fox-over-2017-firing/ar-AAFnSwg?li=BBnbfcL
It states he was discriminated against due to his age and an unspecified disability. 

He did wonderful work on The Simpsons.


----------



## Jdiggity1 (Aug 5, 2019)

oh no


----------



## NoamL (Aug 5, 2019)

I don't know more here than anyone else, naturally. But given Clausen was 76 in 2017... The idea that he was fired for his age isn't unbelievable to me... How many working film composers (much less TV - v often tighter schedule) can you think of in their 70s and beyond? JW, Howard Shore, Randy Newman....?


----------



## erica-grace (Aug 5, 2019)

NoamL said:


> The idea that he was fired for his age isn't unbelievable to me...



This:





__





Age Discrimination


Age Discrimination




www.eeoc.gov





would seem to suggest you can not fire someone for their age. If you can prove that the perosn could no longer function properly, I am sure that would be different. Was Al providing the music in a timely fashion as he always had? Or was he now having a problem meeting deadlines?

Problem for Clausen is he will have to prove (not beyond a reasonable doubt, however) that age was the reason for his firing. How is he going to do that? If he has an email from executives at Fox saying, "we feel you are too old", then Fox is toast. Otherwise, how do you prove something like that?


----------



## Desire Inspires (Aug 5, 2019)

Hopefully the matter is resolved out of court quickly so all parties can move on with life.


----------



## NoamL (Aug 5, 2019)

erica-grace said:


> would seem to suggest you can not fire someone for their age.



I'm not saying it was legal that they did it. If that was the grounds for them firing him he has a good chance to win this I suppose. FOX will likely instead argue that they switched composers for cost reasons.


----------



## patrick76 (Aug 5, 2019)

Unfortunately getting rid of older, higher paid employees and replacing them with younger, low paid employees isn't exactly a new idea for many corporations. And, as Erica mentioned, trying to prove age discrimination will likely be a very difficult task.

Whatever the case may be, this whole thing is really a shame.


----------



## Guido Negraszus (Aug 5, 2019)

This sounds really strange. I'm surprised that Fox would need a reason for sacking anyone really. I would have thought that they (the top earners) are on year by year contracts. Also, Alf is many years beyond common retirement age (which is 65 - 67 around the globe). I honestly don't get the complaint. But then again, we don't know what the contract terms were.


----------



## chuck.dallas (Aug 7, 2019)

This is sad news given that Alf had an amazing 27-year run with the show including the 23 Emmy nominations he received, winning 2 of them. It would be terrible to end that kind of success record with a bitter drawn-out lawsuit -- hopefully they can resolve it quickly.


----------



## AlexRuger (Aug 13, 2019)

chuck.dallas said:


> This is sad news given that Alf had an amazing 27-year run with the show including the 23 Emmy nominations he received, winning 2 of them. It would be terrible to end that kind of success record with a bitter drawn-out lawsuit -- hopefully they can resolve it quickly.



Fox already ended it bitterly by firing him for being old.


----------



## bbunker (Aug 13, 2019)

erica-grace said:


> This:
> 
> 
> 
> ...



How do you prove that? Through the McDonnell Douglas burden shifting proof.





__





McDonnell Douglas Corp. v. Green - Wikipedia







en.wikipedia.org


----------



## Nick Batzdorf (Aug 13, 2019)

bbunker said:


> How do you prove that?



I don't know, but the entertainment industry is incredibly ageist.

A member of my family went through that, and the network she worked for knew exactly what they were doing. We went to a lawyer who back-of-napkined the amount she could get by suing. By strange coincidence it was exactly the same as her severance, only she'd have had to go through years of bullshit.


----------



## Nick Batzdorf (Aug 13, 2019)

So good for Alf Clausen for standing up to bullies.

As an aside, I once had the pleasure of sitting with him at a lunch. What a nice man, and totally unassuming.


----------



## dzilizzi (Aug 13, 2019)

If I remember correctly, age discrimination ceases at 70. You can fire for age after that point.

My father is 89 now. He has mild dementia that started about 10 years ago. At that time, he thought he was fine. He still thinks he is okay and is able to do most things. Except remember to take his medicine. And eat healthy. And take out the garbage (he takes the bag out of the trash bin, but dumps it in the hall closet.

Edit: Nevermind. It looks like they took off the upper end of the age that it applies to.


----------



## Nick Batzdorf (Aug 13, 2019)

Firing people for age is a waste of talent.

My dad is 91 and still practicing (he's a physician). He's sharper than everyone here combined.


----------



## JohnG (Aug 13, 2019)

Nick Batzdorf said:


> He's sharper than everyone here combined.



Na-aah.


----------



## DMDComposer (Aug 13, 2019)

Go Alf Clausen. I hope he wins. 23 emmy nominations and Fox is trying to say they wanted to go in a new direction for music? Yeah okay. He was definitely fired because of his age/disability plain and simple. The guy is a legit comedic music genius and I've been studying his work for years.

#TeamAlfClausen


----------



## Nick Batzdorf (Aug 13, 2019)

JohnG said:


> Na-aah.



Okay, everyone minus you.


----------



## Land of Missing Parts (Aug 13, 2019)

Alf Clausen is suing @Mike Fox ? I wonder if anyone's informed Mike about this development. 🤔


----------



## Mike Fox (Aug 14, 2019)

Land of Missing Parts said:


> Alf Clausen is suing @Mike Fox ? I wonder if anyone's informed Mike about this development. 🤔


This is news to me. Perhaps I'll finally be able to make a name for myself around here.


----------

