Facts

Plaintiff Raafat Saade was an employee of D-Link Systems Inc. from September 2003 through January 2005. The plaintiff alleged that defendants Keith Karlsen and Thomas Paterniti, both D-Link employees, made false representations to plaintiff in order to induce him to come work at D-Link. The plaintiff also alleged that he was wrongfully transferred from the sales department under defendant Paterniti and terminated from his technical support position under defendant Brown because of his race, religion (Muslim), ethnicity (Arab), and nationality (Lebanese) and to deprive him of commissions he earned for sales he procured.

PLAINTIFF'S CONTENTIONS:
The plaintiff alleged that he was wrongfully terminated for discriminatory reasons and to deprive him of earned commissions and that D-Link breached a partly written and partly oral agreement to pay him commissions for contracts for which he was the "procuring cause."

DEFENDANTS' CONTENTIONS:
The defendants denied that plaintiff was made any promises in regards to his employment outside of his written, at-will employment agreement with D-Link. The defendants asserted that plaintiff was transferred from his D-Link sales position for poor performance and then laid-off when it became evident that plaintiff did not have the expertise to continue in the technical department. The defendants maintained that no discrimination ever occurred and that plaintiff never complained to anyone of any discriminatory acts while he was employed at D-Link.

Settlement Discussions

The plaintiff demanded $3 million at mediation. The defendants made a C.C.P. Section 998 offer for $101,000 shortly before trial, which plaintiff rejected and instead made a C.C.P. Section 998 offer for $1.5 million.

Damages

The plaintiff asked for $7 million in damages and presented two expert witnesses as to his damages theories. The defendants did not call any experts and used D-Link's controller to rebut claims of damages.

Result

Defense verdict.

Other Information

The defendants' motion to recover attorney fees was denied. The plaintiff's appeal was dismissed due to plaintiff's lack of funds to pay for the record. FILING DATE: Sept. 27, 2005.

Deliberation

two hours

Poll

12-0 on all claims for the defendants (breach of contract, fraud, wrongful termination, discrimination based on race, religion, ethnicity and national origin)

Length

17 days