Martinez v. Intech College, et al.
Published: Apr. 15, 2003 | Result Date: Feb. 28, 2003 | Filing Date: Jan. 1, 1900 |Case number: BC246541 Bench Decision – $23,179
Judge
Court
L.A. Superior Central
Attorneys
Plaintiff
Defendant
Facts
Gustavo and Christina Schneider (the Schneiders) are the sole members of Intech College, LLC (Intech), a technical vocational training school in Van Nuys. From June 1998 to September 1999, plaintiff Victor Martinez, worked as an auto shop instructor at Intech in exchange for $550 per week plus half of the profits, if any, from the automotive department. Martinez quit in 1999 amid a dispute over the profits. At the time he quit, Intech conceded that it owed $8,179 to Martinez. Martinez filed suit, seeking more than $600,000 as his share of the claimed profits, approximately $25,000 interest on several loans he made to Intech, and $5,000 as the value of some equipment which he claimed he left at Intech. In total, Martinez sought more than $630,000 from the Schneiders and Intech. Additionally, Martinez sought damages for fraud. After hearing nearly three days of testimony, including uncontradicted expert witness testimony offered by Intech, the court ruled that Martinez was entitled to judgment against Intech only in the sum of $23,179 and that the Schneiders were entitled to judgment against Martinez on all claims. The court found that the Schneiders were not liable for any of Martinez's claimed damages and that Intech was liable to Martinez for a $15,000 loan plus $8,179 in amounts which Intech conceded was due to Martinez. Martinez failed to prove the terms of the profit-sharing agreement and the Schneiders established that the profits were to be calculated as total income, less direct expenses, less the department's one-third share of the overhead. The court adopted the testimony of Intech's expert witness and found that Martinez was not entitled to any monies in profit sharing from Intech. Martinez offered testimony concerning seven different loans he claimed were made to Intech. The court found for Martinez on only one of them, a $15,000 loan made in 1998.
Settlement Discussions
Settlement discussions failed as the plaintiff's demands never dropped below $200,000. On the first day of trial, the plaintiff lowered his demand to $100,000.
Other Information
The Schneiders were awarded costs.
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