Plaintiff sued his former employer, SouthWest Dealer Services, Inc., which sells its aftermarket auto products to auto dealerships, for wrongful termination in violation of public policy, fraud, and fraudulent inducement of employment in violation of Labor Code Section 970. Plaintiff claimed his employment was terminated because he reported SouthWest?s participation in some of its car dealership clients? fraudulent business practices known as ?payment packing.? The payment-packing practice in this case involved car dealership sales personnel quoting inflated monthly payment amounts for the cars to customers to hide the true cost of aftermarket products, thereby facilitating the sale of such products. Plaintiff further alleged that he was wrongfully induced to move to California to work for SouthWest by failing to disclose SouthWest's involvement in these fraudulent activities.
The jury found in favor of Plaintiff, awarding him $240,000 in compensatory damages and $240,000 in punitive damages. The court of appeal affirmed the judgment on the grounds that Plaintiff?s public policy claim was ?tethered? to Penal Code Section 487 (criminal fraud) and that the Section 970 verdict was supported by substantial evidence.

Casella v. SouthWest Dealer Servs., Inc., 157 Cal. App. 1127 (2007).

Back to main