Anthony I-Chi Chen v. Metropolitan Life Insurance Company, et al.
Published: Sep. 23, 1995 | Result Date: Jul. 25, 1995 | Filing Date: Jan. 1, 1900 |Case number: BC077011 – $0
Judge
Court
L.A. Superior Central
Attorneys
Plaintiff
Charles Ted Mathews
(Mathews Law Group)
Defendant
Remy J. Kessler
(Constangy Brooks Smith and Prophete LLP)
Experts
Plaintiff
Y.C. Joseph Chen
(medical)
Theodore Vavoulis
(technical)
Defendant
Barbara C. Luna
(technical)
Facts
Plaintiff Anthony I-Chi Chen is Chinese; he came to the United States from Taiwan in the 1970's and commenced to work for Defendant Metropolitan Life Insurance Company in 1980; his position was that of a sales representative and his salary was $28,400 that year. In 5 years his earnings increased to $88,000; at that time he was promoted to branch manager. He started a branch from scratch, hired Asian representatives only, sold primarily to the Asian community, and made $160,000 in 1986. By 1989 his earnings had progressed to $562,000. He then requested to be promoted to regional manager in Southern California; this request was rejected in favor of other candidates who were allegedly better qualified. At that point, Plaintiff went "over the head" of the Western Management and dealt directly with Metropolitan's home office in New York. He was offered the position of Director of Corporate Asian Services in New York, which he declined because of alleged insufficient salary. He was then offered the position of Regional Manager in Pennsylvania, which he declined because of the location. When Chen applied to be appointed to the head of a newly-opened office for Defendant in Taiwan, he was not offered that position, but rather offered the position of marketing director for that office; he declined, allegedly because it was not the number-one position. He continued to apply for the position of regional manager on the West Coast, each time a position became available; each time he was turned down. On January 12, 1993, he claimed total disability due to emotional distress and filed this action for national origin discrimination, race discrimination, retaliation, constructive discharge, and breach of contract.
Settlement Discussions
Defendant contends it offered $100,000 and Plaintiff demanded $5,000,000 reduced to approximately $1,000,000 at trial.
Specials in Evidence
$18,000 $9,000,000
Damages
Plaintiff claimed general damages of $18,000,000.
Injuries
Emotional distress requiring counseling and resulting in disability.
Other Information
This case was filed on March 16, 1993; two years, four months and nine days prior to this result.
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