Facts

On March 27, 2006, plaintiff Dennis Gordon, a 55-year-old managing director for defendant Prudential Financial Inc. in San Diego, retired after 29 years of employment. The plaintiff sued defendant and supervisors John Greene and Matthew Voelker for age discrimination and constructive discharge in violation of California's Fair Employment and Housing Act, as well as breach of contract and breach of the covenant of good faith and fair dealing. The defendants moved for summary judgment.

PLAINTIFF'S CONTENTIONS:
The plaintiff contended that the defendants mistreated him over the course of four years, were ungrateful for his contributions to the company, criticized his performance, increased supervision, and fostered job insecurity as part of their plan to eliminate older employees. They made age-related comments in his presence twice and acted to deprive plaintiff of full vesting of his retirement benefits.

DEFENDANTS' CONTENTIONS:
The defendant contended that the plaintiff could not prove he was constructively discharged. Further, the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) pre-empted the plaintiff's claims that defendants acted to deprive him of his retirement benefits.

Damages

The plaintiff sought unspecified damages.

Result

The court granted summary judgment in defendants' favor, finding plaintiff was not constructively discharged and his claims were preempted by ERISA. The court denied plaintiff's motion to amend his complaint to delete the allegations that defendants acted to prevent full vesting of his retirement benefits.