Tom represented a 50 year old Vice President of Finance, who had worked for his employer for 21 years. The Employer was a 100% wholly owned subsidiary of a German parent company. The Employer was totally controlled by its parent company. The parent company moved a “new” Chief Operating Officer into the company approximately four months before the termination of Tom’s Client, and also hired a younger, less expensive controller to work under Tom’s Client. [Tom’s Client had been the only controller for his employer in over 20 years of working there].
Tom’s Client began to consult with him about these drastic changes in his employment. Tom guided his Client by writing letters to the Employer about its treatment of the Client, including how his “previously treated lumbar fusion was very painful and that the company’s decision to add the cost of a controller was an unnecessary expense - as the Employer was losing money.”
Eventually, the Employer told Tom’s Client that his position had been eliminated and terminated his employment - claiming it “needed to save money.” Tom asserted that the losses the Employer was experiencing were all due to:
• The price that the parent company charged the Employer to buy its merchandise
• The added cost of an unnecessary controller
• His Client’s age
• The Client’s medical condition of a lumbar fusion
A settlement was reached in favor of Tom’s Client, for $500,000.