‘Simpsons’ Composer Alf Clausen Drops Wrongful Firing Suit Against Fox

variety.com:

Gene Maddaus Senior Media WriterAlf Clausen, the longtime “Simpsons” composer who was fired in 2017, has dropped his wrongful termination lawsuit, in which he accused Fox of age and disability discrimination.Clausen, 80, filed the suit in August 2019, alleging that Fox and Gracie Films had fired him because of his age and Parkinson’s diagnosis.

Clausen worked on the show for 27 years, and was nominated for 23 Emmy Awards.In August 2020, a judge dismissed part of the suit, ruling that Clausen had not shown enough evidence of age discrimination, but could proceed with his disability discrimination claim, among others.

Fox appealed that ruling, arguing that the entire lawsuit should have been dismissed, and the case was argued in December. Clausen’s attorney, Ebby Bakhtiar, told Variety that the justices appeared likely to rule against him.

Rather than wait for the ruling — which could have exposed Clausen to the risk of having to pay Fox’s attorneys’ fees — Bakhtiar decided it was better to dismiss the suit outright.“We caught a very, very conservative panel,” Bakhtiar said. “I think he got screwed.”Fox’s attorneys filed a request on Monday to drop the appeal, which will be followed by Clausen’s motion to dismiss the case at the trial court.Producers on “The Simpsons” had argued that Clausen was let go for legitimate creative reasons.