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Claudette Wilson and Meryl Maneker were featured in a newsletter of The National Association of Minority and Women Owned Law Firms (NAMWOLF) for their work in defending GlaxoSmithKline (GSK). GSK, which is also a member of the organization, was sued in federal court in an employment case dating back to 2003. An excerpt of the article appears below:
"Claudette Wilson and Meryl Maneker of Wilson Petty Kosmo & Turner LLP, a NAMWOLF
founding firm, recently successfully defended GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), an
avid supporter of NAMWOLF, in an age discrimination and retaliation case in federal
court in Orange County, California. Mark Rome, a former Senior Executive Sales
Representative for GSK, was terminated on August 14, 2003 because he had violated
an important company policy regarding grants. Rome was 49 at the time of
his termination and claimed his age, and a complaint he made after his supervisor
raised the policy violation with him, was the basis for his termination. Wilson Petty
removed the case to federal court on diversity grounds, and jury was waived by both
parties. The trial lasted five court days before Judge James V. Selna of the Central
District of California.
"The case had a long history. It was originally filed in October 2003, and Wilson
Petty obtained summary judgment in March 2005. The summary judgment was partially
reversed by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in May 2007 and the case was remanded for
trial, which finally went forward on August 12, 2008, five years from the date of Rome’s termination.
Anyone who has tried a five-year old case knows the difficulties of finding witnesses, documents and refreshing
long dormant recollections. Despite these challenges, the trial was as enjoyable as a trial can be. 'A lot of the
credit for this has to go to GSK, and more specifically to Rick Richardson, VP and Associate General Counsel,
for his dedication to making sure that the trial team had all the tools at their disposal to effectively defend the
claim,' said Claudette Wilson. 'The witnesses were made aware of the importance of the litigation and the need
to devote the necessary time to refreshing recollection and preparing for trial. And we were allowed both the
time and resources necessary to work effectively with the witnesses.'"
To review the rest of the article, or to download the entire NAMWOLF newsletter, please click here.
Congratulations
to Claudette Wilson and Meryl Maneker for their work in this high-profile employment matter.
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