Goodman v. Tickets.com Inc.
Published: Jun. 29, 2002 | Result Date: Jun. 3, 2002 | Filing Date: Jan. 1, 1900 |Case number: BC210832 Verdict – $771,976
Judge
Court
L.A. Superior Central
Attorneys
Plaintiff
Marc E. Rohatiner
(Wolf, Rifkin, Shapiro, Schulman & Rabkin LLP)
Defendant
Experts
Plaintiff
Jerry Arnold
(technical)
Defendant
Robert Smits
(technical)
Jay S. Finkelman
(medical)
Facts
The plaintiff began working for the defendant in April 1998. The plaintiffÆs employment contract
included the right to 125,000 stock options which were to vest over a four-year period. The
contract also provided for the accelerated vesting in the event of a sale of the company or an
IPO. On Jan. 26, 1999, the defendant signed a definitive merger agreement with Advantix. On
Feb. 1, the defendant terminated the plaintiff in that he had become "redundant as a result of the
merger." The defendant offered the plaintiff the right to exercise approximately 34,000 of his
options conditional upon the plaintiff releasing his claim for the remaining options. In addition,
the plaintiff would be required to sign a stock option agreement which, among other things, would
have required the plaintiff to "lock up" his shares for 180 days after an IPO. The plaintiff refused,
claiming that all of his shares had vested by reason of the merger. The certificate of merger,
however, was not filed until May 17, 1999.
Settlement Discussions
At a settlement conference in 2000, the defendantÆs highest offer was $125,000. The plaintiff had offered to accept $325,000.
Damages
By agreement, the trial court will rule on the plaintiffÆs claim to $200,000 in prejudgment interest and in addition to attorney fees.
Other Information
PLEASE PROVIDE THE CITY OF LOCALE OF Robert Smits __________, Jay Finkleman ____________
Deliberation
four hours
Poll
unanimous as to liability
Length
eight days
For reprint rights or to order a copy of your photo:
Email
jeremy@reprintpros.com
for prices.
Direct dial: 949-702-5390