Facts

Plaintiff Julius Chang was the branch manager of the Cupertino Village branch of Asia Pacific Services (APS), a business unit of Charles Schwab & Co. Inc. Following the integration of the APS business unit into the larger retail branch network in August 2005, Chang was reassigned to Schwab's Retail San Jose branch.

From February 2004 to August 2005, plaintiff Howard Chen was the branch manager for the Daly City APS branch. In August 2005, he was reassigned to the Schwab's Retail Berkeley branch.

Plaintiffs Chen and Chang, both Asian-Americans, asserted they were set up to fail and because of that, suffered substantial losses in actual and potential income.

PLAINTIFFS' CONTENTIONS:
The plaintiffs claimed that in their capacity as branch managers in 2005, they experienced "tagging and bagging," a practice of claiming clients in order to obtain incentive credits available to those who developed new business. The plaintiffs sued Schwab for disparate impact, treatment, discrimination and retaliation. The plaintiffs argued that Schwab discriminated and retaliated against them by allowing the practice to occur and not assigning plaintiffs to retail branches consistent with their experience and expertise.

DEFENDANT'S CONTENTIONS:
Schwab claimed that following the events of September 11th, due to shifts in the securities market and substantive changes in client needs, they initiated a series of restructuring initiatives designed to reduce costs, increase productivity and restore profitability. As part of the integration of eleven APS branches into retain branch networks, they reassigned plaintiffs to manage retail branches. Schwab contended there was no evidence of discriminatory conduct or retaliation by anyone at Schwab. Schwab further asserted that the characterization of the integration of the APS business unit into the retail branch network, and the subsequent reassignment of plaintiffs was simply unsupported.

Injuries

The plaintiffs economist estimated that Chang suffered $2.2 million in past and future economic losses. Chen suffered $1.9 million if he was placed at the Walnut Creek branch; $3.0 million if he worked in San Mateo; and $2.9 million if he was in Fremont. The plaintiffs also sought non-quantified amounts of emotional distress and punitive damages.

Result

The jury returned a verdict for Schwab.

Deliberation

one day

Length

22 days