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Ex-Musician Sues The Monkees for Discrimination, Wrongful Termination

posted 8 years ago by jefgg
8 replies | jump to latest

Ex-Musician Sues The Monkees for Discrimination, Wrongful Termination
By Ashley Cullins
hollywoodreporter.com
April 1, 2016

A 57-year-old woman who toured with the band for nearly two decades says she was fired because she did not look good onstage and fell asleep at a rehearsal, according to the lawsuit.

An ex-musician for The Monkees says she was fired in a four-minute phone call after playing with the band for nearly 20 years and later was told it was because she didn't look good onstage, according to a lawsuit filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court on Friday.

Aviva Maloney is suing Micky Dolenz and Peter Tork (two founding members of The Monkees), Warner Music Group and others involved with the band's tours for discrimination, harassment, retaliation, failure to accommodate disability and wrongful termination, among other claims.

Maloney, 57, plays saxophone, clarinet, keyboards and other instruments and says she was the first female member of the band when she joined the other members on their 30th Anniversary Tour in 1996.

She says she's been described as Davy Jones' best friend, and after his death in 2012, defendants gradually reduced her role in the band "because of her legally protected characteristics," including her age, sex and disabilities.

A few days after she was fired in 2015 by musical director Wayne Avers, Maloney claims Tork told her husband that she should join Overeaters Anonymous because she was eating to resolve emotional problems and didn't look good onstage. She claims Tork also complained that she didn't wear makeup onstage and had fallen asleep at rehearsal.

Maloney says she was diagnosed with lupus, which causes fatigue, and rheumatoid arthritis in 2003, and the defendants knew of her illnesses because they were like family.

"Defendants failed to recognize that Plaintiff's falling asleep at a rehearsal, if it happened, may have been a symptom of her disabilities, warranting reasonable accommodation," states the lawsuit.

Her replacement is a woman under 40 years of age with no real or imagined disabilities, according to the complaint, which Maloney says is proof she was fired in substantial part because of her illness and age.

Additionally, Maloney claims the defendants intentionally misclassified her as an exempt employee to avoid paying overtime, and she wasn't paid what she was owed at the time she was fired.

She's suing for restitution, past and future lost wages and statutory and punitive damages.

Representatives of the band and WMG have not yet commented on the lawsuit.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr-esq/musician-sues-monkees-discrimination-wrongful-880054

[–] hanthonykaren 8 years ago

I remember reading about this. I wonder if there's an update on the case.

[–] jefgg 8 years ago

I wouldn't be surprised if it gets settled out of court.

[–] hanthonykaren 8 years ago

I wouldn't be surprised either. Hopefully both parties can come to a reasonable agreement.

[–] kb541 8 years ago

Aviva was a key player in Davy's solo band. She played with them for years and she was great! But I only saw her once with the rest of the Monkees after Davy died for one tour and then she was gone.

The band that Micky and Peter are currently touring with is not very good. Compared to Davy's band that he had with him, these backup guys sound like amateurs. It's a shame because Micky and Peter have sounded much better previously than they do now. It's a huge shame that they got rid of Aviva because she really added a great sound with all the instruments she played. And besides that, Davy seemed to really enjoy having her on stage whenever he used to tour solo with her as a part of his backup band. And I think Davy would be disappointed that they got rid of her.

[–] melissah1982 (883) 4 years ago

I was so sad when I heard this story as I loved Aviva. I'll have to go research and find updates on this story. When Davy Jones passed away in 2012, I had booked tickets to see him in Disney world as part of the Flower Power concerts. It was one of those Murphy Law kind of things where I bought the tickets February 9th (my birthday) and he passed February 29th. I wasn't sure if I was going to go on the trip because I didn't know who they were going to replace him with. Luckily Micky stepped into the part and I went. When I showed up for the first concert, I saw Aviva and I felt soooo comforted because she was practically the 5th Monkee. It's a shame that The Monkees' relationship with her had to end in such a way

[–] [deleted] 4 years ago

Interesting.

[–] Haaken78 7 years ago

That's too bad. I've seen that lady play with the Monkees many times and she was fantastic. Always got the loudest cheer during the "meet the band" sequence. Her talent was obvious.

[–] TimMC (9143) 4 years ago

Hired guns can be hired and fired at will. As in NOT part of the band.
NETFLIX has a great documentary on this subject. It's sad.... somewhat.