Jury Awards Ex-CEO $8.04 Million in Fraud Suit

A Los Angeles Superior Court jury has awarded the former chief executive officer of American Film Technologies $8.04 million in damages in a civil suit that charged the bankrupt North Hollywood animation and film colorization company’s onetime directors with fraud.

Joseph M. Taritero, 53, said the board of directors forced him to resign as CEO in November, 1992, and then reneged on a promise to buy out his contract.

He alleged that the board members, who included former Viacom president Robert Glaser, pushed him out after he advocated going public with news of American Film Technologies’ financial difficulties.

The damages, awarded after a seven-day jury trial, include $892,000 in compensatory damages and $7.15 million in punitive damages, said Andrew White, Taritero’s attorney. White said that American Film’s shaky finances--the company has ceased operations and been in Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings since October, 1993--should not affect his client’s ability to collect the award because the individual directors were the defendants in the suit.