Ex-Caltech researcher sues school, claims he was a whistleblower

LOS ANGELES -- A superior court jury heard opening statements Wednesday in a trial pitting the California Institute of Technology against a former researcher who claims the university harassed and fired him in retaliation for reporting misconduct to the federal government. The university said he was a bad manager.

Farshid Roumi, an expert in lithium-ion technology who worked for Caltech for more than a decade, alleges the research university's officials undermined his work on a U.S. Department of Energy-funded project in 2015 and 2016 to develop more efficient batteries for electric vehicles, leading to its cancellation.

Once the project ended, the school terminated Roumi's contract, which was funded by the energy department grant. Roumi filed a wrongful termination suit the following year. Farshid Roumi v. California Institute of Technology, BC654132 (L.A. Super. Ct., filed Mar. 14, 2017).

Representing Roumi, Mark T. Quigley of Greene Broillet & Wheeler LLP said relationships between the researcher and Caltech had been positive and prosperous for many years after Roumi completed his doctorate at the university in 2004, but changed after he reported his boss to the federal energy department, saying he wanted to use the grant money for other projects.

"They loved Dr. Roumi. They patented his inventions," Quigley said. "They have the potential to make a lot of money."

But Hueston Hennigan partner and co-founder Moez Kaba said in his opening the university provided Roumi with every opportunity to complete his project, claiming those efforts were in turn marred by the researcher's lackluster management skills.

Kaba described Roumi as a disorganized, absentee manager who was never in the lab, micromanaged via email, constantly changed assignments and deadlines, and blamed others for poor results.

Using a PowerPoint presentation, Kaba displayed email after email from Roumi's research team and supervisor asking him to visit the lab and provide on-site guidance. Roumi would often respond to criticism either by accusing his subordinates of not doing the work or reporting them.

In 2015, Roumi reported his boss, Michael Hoffman, an environmental services professor, to university administrators and the energy department, claiming Hoffman wanted to use grant money to pay for two researchers working on other projects.

Quigley said Hoffman also asked Roumi to send a fraudulent quarterly report to the energy department that included research unrelated to the battery project,

After Roumi reported Hoffman, reports from his research team came in either late or incorrect, Quigley said, causing delays in reporting to the energy department. After multiple missed deadlines, the federal agency ended the project.

"There were no complaints, no bad behavior until he turned in his boss," Quigley said. "What Caltech did to him ... they ruined his reputation."

According to Kaba, however, the problems on the battery project continued after Roumi moved to a new lab, got a new supervisor and hired a new research team, "Despite all these resources, Dr. Roumi's pattern did not change," Kaba said. "Caltech helped Dr. Roumi so he could reach the goals of his project, but this was a project he could not achieve. It's time Dr. Roumi accept that and take responsibility."