Suit Seeks $36 Million from Mitsubishi : Terminations: Three fired managers claim their dismissals were based on age and national origin. The Cypress electronics company plans an aggressive defense.
Three American managers fired by Mitsubishi Electronics America Inc. in 1990 have sued the company, alleging that their terminations resulted from discrimination based on their age and national origin.
A similar suit was filed four months ago by a Mitsubishi manager in Minneapolis. Daniel E. Reiter, an area sales manager for Mitsubishi’s information systems division in Minneapolis until he was laid off in November, 1990, filed an age and race discrimination suit against the company last October. The suit seeks damages of $4 million.
The latest suit, filed Thursday in Orange County Superior Court, alleges that the Cypress-based Japanese company promised lifetime employment during hiring to George W. O’Mary and Robert T. Jones and promised job security to Thomas P. Glassford. The men, each in his 50s, allege that the TV and computer peripherals manufacturer reneged on its promise when it laid them off in November, 1990.
The three men allege that the firm told them that their jobs were eliminated as a result of a restructuring and reduction in the work force. They also contend that their duties were reassigned to Japanese managers with less seniority.
Mitsubishi officials described the allegations as “baseless” and said the company will aggressively contest the suit, which seeks damages of $36 million.
“We feel that this lawsuit does not have any merit,” said Periklis A. Pappous, Mitsubishi’s senior counsel.
The former employees allege that in March, 1990, Toshio Fukuda, the company’s vice president of manufacturing, told several U.S. managers that Mitsubishi intended to replace managers over age 40 with “younger, more aggressive” ones.
“There were all kinds of rumors going on because of consolidation,” said O’Mary, 56, a Sierra Madre resident who was senior manager of customer support. “The Japanese top management kept telling us that Mitsubishi intends to stay in the computer business.”
