Arbitration & Mediation

$4.1 Billion JAMS Arbitration Award Confirmed by Court!

By Victoria Pynchon

All I have now is the Plaintiff's attorneys' own press release.  Excerpt below.

SACRAMENTO, Calif., June 2 /PRNewswire/ -- Released today by Law Offices of Scot D. Bernstein, A Professional Corporation, and Law Offices of Steve A. Buchwalter, P.C.: In what may be a record, the Los Angeles County Superior Court has issued a $4.1 billion judgment confirming a JAMS arbitration award. The defendants, including iFreedom Communications International Holdings, Limited, and its founder, Timothy Ringgenberg, were found liable for compensatory and punitive damages in an employment dispute with Paul Thomas Chester, their former Chief Marketing Officer.

Mr. Chester became the defendants' Chief Marketing Officer in June 2004. The defendants' promises to pay him certain commissions and overrides on gross revenues, his right to receive company stock, and the other elements of hiscompensation package reflected his experience in building marketing organizations. "When the promised compensation was not forthcoming, Mr. Chester raised the issue with his employers. By then, the employers had obtained the benefits of Mr. Chester's knowledge and expertise, and they quickly terminated him without cause," Scot Bernstein said.

Mr. Chester sought the assistance of legal counsel. Due to the lack of cooperation from his former employers, Mr. Chester was forced to file suit. The defendants, in turn, moved to compel him to arbitrate the case pursuant to an arbitration clause in the employment agreement.

The arbitrator, a retired judge, determined that the defendants had obtained Mr. Chester's services by means of false representations and fraud. In addition to all unpaid salary, commissions, travel expense reimbursements, and compensation for unissued company stock and unreturned intellectual property, the arbitrator awarded statutory penalties, interest, attorneys' fees, and punitive damages equal to three times the compensatory damages. 

(I don't imagine this is something JAMS will want to crow about)

Full post as published by Settle It Now Negotiation Blog on June 03, 2009 (boomark / email).