‘Jeopardy!’ Director Sues Show For $3 Million Alleging Age Discrimination

A former "Jeopardy!" director is suing the game show for over $3 million alleging he is the victim of age discrimination.

The director, Clay Jacobsen, served as an associate director before being promoted to director when he worked for the game show from 2006 to February of 2022.

According to court documents obtained by The Blast, Jacobsen claims he was "terminated without cause" and believes he was replaced by younger employees as a form of age discrimination.

According to court documents obtained by The Blast, Clay Jacobsen worked as an associate director of "Jeopardy!" before being promoted to director during his tenure, which lasted from 2006 to February 2022. At that time, he claimed that he was "terminated without cause."

Jacobsen was employed by the show but notes that he was "improperly categorized" as an independent contractor rather than an employee through California's Labor Code. Jacobsen gives a long list of reasons why he was an employee rather than an independent contractor, explaining that he never set his own hours, determined his location of work, or provided his own tools, vehicles, or equipment to perform work on the show.

Given that, Jacobsen alleges that he was terminated from his position as director "without cause." Even though that was the official reason given, was that several employees had made complaints against him that he maintains are false. He alleges that these employees made up lies to get him fired in order to progress their own careers.

Jacobsen is also over 40 years old and notes that he was replaced by younger employees, thus alleging age discrimination. At the time of the firing, ee insists that he was "performing satisfactorily in his position."

In his contract, which lasted from the 2021-2022 "Jeopardy!" season, Jacobsen claims that he is owed $187,998.14.

In addition, he is also requesting general and special damages that total more than $3 MILLION.

This would not be the first time “Jeopardy!” has been rocked by scandal. Former executive producer Mike Richards filled in as guest host after long-term host Alex Trebek passed away from pancreatic cancer on November 8, 2020. He was later named host of the show in what fans called a “rigged” election, with “The Big Bang Theory” alum Mayim Bialik being selected to host future primetime specials and spin-offs, like “Celebrity Jeopardy!”.

However, some of Richards’ insensitive comments about women and minorities came to light, as well as several wrongful termination lawsuits that had been filed against him when he worked on “The Price Is Right.” Richards resigned as host and was fired as executive producer a week later. Michael Davies has since signed on as executive producer, while “Jeopardy! Greatest of All Time” champion Ken Jennings, who is best known for his record-holding 74-game win streak, was named as the new co-host alongside Mayim Bialik in July 2022.

On Tuesday, June 13, Ken Jennings released his new book “100 Places To See After You Die.” In an interview with the New Yorker promoting the book, Ken described the hardest part of hosting “Jeopardy!”.

“It’s the speed of it,” Ken explained. “It’s hard to overstate how fast it moves and the mechanics of what the host has to do sixty-one times a show: read the clue flawlessly, call on the right contestant, adjudicate their response correctly. And then it all repeats.”

“It’s a very hard job, and Alex made it look easy,” he continued. “So it’s kind of a no-win thing—the only other person we’ve seen do it looked incredibly confident and graceful for thirty-seven years, and we all loved him.”

Ken went on to say that he is very aware of how nervous contestants can be on stage. “I’m always thinking, How can I make the contestants feel—I don’t know about comfortable, but at least not panicky?" he continued. "Because I’ve been there, and I know it’s tough,” he said. “I see the hand shaking when they’re trying to wager.”

“And they know it’s a weighty moment,” he admitted, recognizing that it’s one of the hardest parts of the game. “The good thing is, you can take an afternoon and do some online research and break down how to wager Final Jeopardy.”

“If you can know four or five cases, and if you can train your brain to do that flowchart, you can be ready,” he explained. “That said, it’s a crucible, and people do it wrong sometimes.”

The case is ongoing.