Callahan & Blaine Receives Unanimous Jury Verdict on Behalf of Ricoh Electronics Defeating Claims of Discrimination Based Upon Race and National Origin
An Orange County Superior Court jury voted unanimously after a two month trial in favor of Callahan & Blaine’s client, Ricoh Electronics, Inc. The jury found that Ricoh Electronics did not discriminate on the basis of race or national origin in its promotion, demotion and/or termination practices. Plaintiffs James Haluck and Michael Litton sued Ricoh in August of 2003 alleging that they had been passed over for a promotion by Asian employees. These plaintiffs asserted that the basis of the decision to promote Asian employees was based upon race and national origin. The jury unanimously found to the contrary, vindicating Ricoh’s employment practices and policies. For the first 7½ weeks of this 8 week trial, plaintiffs called witnesses, including themselves. Dan Callahan and Brian McCormack representing Ricoh called three witnesses in a day and a half and rested the case after having cross-examined plaintiffs’ witnesses and destroying plaintiffs’ credibility. Defendants’ witnesses on the other hand had strong credibility with the jury and led to the verdict which was achieved by the jury within five hours of commencing deliberations.
Plaintiffs had demanded in excess of $1,000,000 in economic and non-economic damages and was prepared to seek another $1,000,000 in attorneys’ fees if plaintiffs had won or obtained any recovery.
The net result of the Judgment is that Ricoh is vindicated in its employment practices and has no obligation to pay any further sum to the plaintiffs. In fact, Ricoh is entitled to recover its costs and, at the discretion of the judge, its attorneys’ fees against these plaintiffs. The verdict was entered on the record on March 1, 2005.
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