Alice Kunreuther v. Printronix Inc.
Published: Nov. 16, 2004 | Result Date: Sep. 17, 2004 | Filing Date: Jan. 1, 1900 |Case number: 03CC09207 Verdict – $0
Judge
Court
Orange Superior
Attorneys
Plaintiff
Mark N. Mazda
( Law Office of Mark Mazda)
Defendant
Experts
Plaintiff
James R. Hawkins
(James Hawkins APLC)
(medical)
Joyce Elaine Pickersgill
(technical)
Terry Schenk
(medical)
Stephanie Hawkins
(medical)
Defendant
Roberta L. Falke
(medical)
Facts
The plaintiff was hired in June 2000 as marketing communications manager of the defendant Printronix Inc. The plaintiff claimed that during her first nine months of employment, she was sexually harassed by her then supervisor, the vice president of marketing. The plaintiff did not complain about the alleged harassment to human resources at the time the harassment was occurring. In March 2001, the plaintiff's supervisor was promoted to senior vice president of sales and marketing and she no longer had direct contact with the alleged harasser. More than one year later, in July 2002, the company hired a new vice president of marketing, who became the plaintiff's direct supervisor. The plaintiff alleged that the alleged harasser had lunch with the new vice president of marketing and told him that the plaintiff was struggling in her position, when he had no basis to do so. The new supervisor thereafter increased the amount of work the plaintiff was required to do. In September 2002, the plaintiff submitted a request for medical leave, claiming stress from various personal issues and work exacerbated her underlying heart condition, a cardiac dysrhythmia. Her request for medical leave was granted by the company. For the quarter ending September 2002, the company experienced a very significant drop in revenue, and the decision was made to have a company-wide reduction in force. On Oct. 4, 2002, the plaintiff was terminated one week into her leave, along with seven other employees. The plaintiff alleged no one from the plaintiff's marketing department was terminated except the plaintiff; one month after the plaintiff's termination, the marketing department had more employees without the plaintiff (13 employees) than it did when the plaintiff was there (12 employees); and the defendant increased the amount it spent on marketing after it terminated the plaintiff.
Settlement Discussions
There were no settlement discussions since the defendant company was unwilling to consider settlement of the case. The plaintiff made a C.C.P. Section 998 demand before trial of $400,000 plus attorneys fees and costs.
Damages
The plaintiff claimed economic loss of approximately $228,000 plus emotional distress damages.
Result
Jury verdict for the defendant on all tried claims. Before trial, summary adjudication was granted in favor of the defendant on the plaintiff's overtime claim.
Deliberation
three hours
Length
five weeks
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