Vibeke Cloud v. Western Atlas, Inc.; Litton Industries Inc.
Published: Feb. 14, 1998 | Result Date: Dec. 23, 1997 | Filing Date: Jan. 1, 1900 |Case number: BC130079 Verdict – $0
Judge
Court
L.A. Superior Central
Attorneys
Plaintiff
Defendant
John W. Patton Jr.
(Patton & Ryan LLC)
Nancy L. Abell
(Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker LLP)
Experts
Plaintiff
William Simpson
(technical)
Marcia Haight
(technical)
R. Stafford Grady
(technical)
Defendant
Michael P. Ward
(technical)
Leonard Bierman
(technical)
Facts
In 1993, defendant Litton Industries spun off approximately 40 percent of its business to form defendant Western Atlas. Plaintiff Vibeke Cloud, who had been Litton's Director of Financial Consolidation and Reporting since 1987, alleged that she did the strategic financial analyses which were the basis of the spin off. Litton and Western refused to hire Cloud as the controller for the new corporation and hired a man instead. Plaintiff alleged that after she tried to resolve the issue for eight months, plaintiff quit the position of Assistant Controller that she was hired into at Western Atlas. The plaintiff brought this action against the defendant based on violation of the California Fair Employment and Housing Act among other theories of recovery.
Settlement Discussions
Per plaintiff, the plaintiff's last settlement was $300,000 and defendant offered at mediation to fund a CEO position for plaintiff for one year. Defendant did not disclose settlement discussions.
Damages
The plaintiff claimed $2.5 million in lost income.
Other Information
The verdict was reached approximately one year and 11 months after the case was filed. MEDIATION: A 7-day mediation was held on March 6, 1995, before Anthony Piazza of Gregorie, Haldeman & Piazza resulting in no settlement. THE RESULT: The jury found both Litton and Western Atlas liable for compensatory and punitive damages. (There was jury trial on liability and a bench trial on damages.) Per plaintiff, the court granted an limine motion excluding "post-quit" damages for the plaintiff, reasoning that the case was a promotion case rather than a hiring case. The court awarded $7,235 in compensatory damages and granted a JNOV on punitive damages. The court issued an advisory opinion that compensatory damages would be $879,627 if the case were considered a hiring case, rather than a promotion case. Except for the JNOV on punitive damages liability, the court denied defendants' motion for new trial and JNOV. Both sides have filed notices of appeal.
Deliberation
three days.
Poll
9-3 (against defendants on the promotion discrimination claims)
Length
3 weeks (liability), 2 days (damages)
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