Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani Partner Mike Laurenson and Senior Counsel Richard Lambert recently obtained an arbitration award in favor of GRSM’s client, a global pharmaceutical company.
The claimant was a former employee who sued for age discrimination, breach of contract, and misrepresentations, seeking more than $1.25 million. He alleged that he was terminated as a result of his age, as part of a company-wide reduction in force, and further alleged that he had been promised a severance package in excess of $500,000, but that the client refused to pay.
Laurenson and Lambert argued that the client had eliminated the claimant’s position because it was redundant and that the refusal to pay the claimant any severance was the direct result of his termination for cause, following his unauthorized download of thousands of files that included the client’s trade secret, confidential, and proprietary information, documents, and data. Laurenson and Lambert filed a cross-complaint against the claimant based on the unlawful download.
On the eve of arbitration, the claimant dismissed his claims for age discrimination, and the hearing proceeded only on the causes of action for breach of contract and misrepresentation, as well as GRSM’s client’s cross-complaint.
Within days of the conclusion of evidence, the arbitrator issued an award finding in favor of GRSM’s client on all the claims in the case. The parties subsequently reached an agreement wherein the claimant agreed to pay GRSM’s client a substantial portion of its fees and costs.
This outcome underscores the strength of our Employment practice in guiding clients through arbitration cases while leveraging the firm’s robust 50-state platform to deliver seamless, comprehensive legal solutions.