Action Preceded His Firing : Ex-President Sued Buyers of Flexible Metal Hose Co.

Three months before he was fired last week as president of Costa Mesa-based Flexible Metal Hose Manufacturing Co., Frank M. Singer sued the firm’s parent company and an affiliate, alleging that they engaged in fraudulent and deceptive practices when they purchased the business from him in late 1986.

Singer, 53, of Huntington Beach, sold the Costa Mesa company to a unit of New York-based Alleghany Corp. for $6.5 million in September, 1986. Singer had continued as president of Flexible Metal Hose until he was fired last Tuesday.

Alleghany has been trying to sell the Flexible Metal Hose operation since last year. Singer offered to repurchase the company, but Alleghany rejected his offer.

Singer’s suit, filed in December in Superior Court in Santa Ana, names Alleghany and an affiliated company, Pittsburgh-based Cyclops Corp., as defendants.

The suit charges that Alleghany defrauded Singer when it told him that Flexible Metal Hose would become “the cornerstone of a new aerospace business.”

It alleges that Alleghany never created an aerospace unit. As a result, Singer did not receive the incentive pay he expected to receive under his employment contract, which pegged his compensation to the profitability of the business.

The suit further alleges that Alleghany and Cyclops “repeatedly breached their employment agreement” with Singer.

Alleghany and Cyclops have filed a motion seeking to have Singer’s suit dismissed. “We don’t think they have a valid claim,” said Christopher Cella, an attorney for the defendants.

A hearing on the Alleghany and Cyclops motion is scheduled for April 5 in Superior Court.

Flexible Metal Hose is a manufacturer of metal hoses, cables, wiring assemblies and other specialty products for the aerospace industry.