Ex-Executive of Rohr Wins $500,000 : Justice: Jury finds that the company wrongfully fired her and another employee.

Completing a six-week wrongful termination trial that previously included a multimillion-dollar verdict against Rohr Inc., a jury on Wednesday awarded a former employee $500,000 because the Chula Vista aerospace firm conducted a far-reaching investigation into her personal background.

The judgment for Sue Everett, 40, follows a verdict on Monday that found that Rohr wrongfully fired her and another employee because they were having a personal relationship.

Everett’s live-in companion, Kenneth Bingham, 47, was not eligible for punitive damages in Wednesday’s decision, but the jury previously decided that he should receive at least $2 million and possibly as much as $5.25 million.

Superior Court Judge Jeffrey Miller will conduct a post-trial hearing later this month to make final the complicated verdicts.

Everett and Bingham filed suit nearly two years ago after they were fired from their senior positions in Rohr’s personnel department. Bingham, as director of corporate human relations, made $150,000 a year before he was terminated. Everett was a manager in the Human Relations Department and had an annual salary of $80,000. Although the two were in the same division, neither one supervised the other.

Attorneys for the two former workers blamed the firings on problems between Bingham and Robert H. Goldsmith, Rohr’s chairman and chief executive officer.

Asked if she was pleased with Wednesday’s decision, Everett said, “Only if they take it out of Bob Goldsmith’s salary.”

The previous monetary awards followed the jury finding that Rohr breached the employment contract with both and also broken the legal bond known as the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing. Although the panel rejected Everett’s claim that she was a victim of sexual discrimination, it did find that the company violated her privacy during the investigation, and that it intentionally inflicted emotional distress.

“They just threw these people away like they were trash,” said Everett’s attorney, Ann M. Smith.

“I’m disappointed with the verdict, we think it was excessive,” said Dennis Gladwell, the attorney representing Rohr. He added that no decision has been made on appealing the verdicts.