Three years after a judge ordered arbitration of a former “Jeopardy!” director’s age discrimination lawsuit, the plaintiff is now asking that his complaint be formally dropped.
Plaintiff Clay Jacobsen served as an associate director before being promoted to director when he worked for the game show from 2006 to February 2022. In November 2023, then-Santa Monica Superior Court Judge Elaine W. Mandel placed a stay on the case pending the outcome of binding arbitration of his case against Quadra Productions Inc. The parties had filed court papers the same day stating their consensus that the case should be decided by an arbitrator rather than a jury.
The attorneys in the case had filed earlier court papers that arbitration was scheduled in February of this year, but the new pleadings do not state whether arbitration was completed.
Mandel is now a judge in Van Nuys Superior Court. On Monday, Jacobsen’s attorney filed court papers with the new judge in the case, David W. Swift, asking that the case be dismissed “with prejudice,” meaning it cannot be refiled.
Jacobsen said that although he was told his termination was without cause, he was also informed that various employees had made complaints against him, all of which he maintains were false.
“In fact, the employees at issue were fabricating the basis for termination in attempt to advance their own careers,” the suit filed in June 2023 stated.
The suit further stated that Jacobsen was over 40 years old, but did not give his specific age.