An executive fired without cause following 18 years at a land holding company won $570,000 in damages after a judge concluded he was the victim of a smear campaign conducted by the new owner of the business.
According to the ruling, the plaintiff was originally recruited by the company founder in 2002 and the pair worked well together as the business transformed into a $700-million operation. However, things changed when the founder died suddenly in 2020 and his wife took control of operations, immediately withdrawing the plaintiff’s signing authority.
In the eight weeks that followed, the judge found that the new owner embarked on a “malicious campaign” to undermine the 69-year-old plaintiff’s ability to do his job and destroy his reputation with customers, making baseless accusations of criminality – including a suggestion that he had been involved in her husband’s death — before finally firing him.
The action proceeded on a default basis after the defendant failed to show up for the trial, where the judge ordered the firm to pay $471,000 in damages on the basis of a 24-month notice period, plus a further $50,000 in aggravated damages and another $50,000 in punitive damages for the manner of the dismissal.
Tap the link to read the judge’s decision: https://ow.ly/84PZ50QBXiF
