$870,000 Awarded in Suit Alleging Assault by Boss

SANTA ANA —  A former employee of Amplicon Inc., who alleged in a lawsuit that the company’s top executive struck him and dragged him out of an office during an argument, has won an $870,000 award against the telemarketer and the executive.

An Orange County Superior Court jury on Monday awarded former Amplicon sales manager J. Scott McFetters $790,000 in punitive damages after deliberating just a few hours. Last week, the same jury awarded McFetters, a Newport Beach resident, $80,000 in actual damages.

The 30-year-old salesman filed suit against Amplicon and Patrick E. Paddon, the Santa Ana company’s chairman, president and major shareholder, in June 1995, alleging he had been wrongfully terminated after months of physical abuse and intimidation.

The suit, which went to trial in mid-November, originally alleged wrongful termination, breach of contract, false imprisonment and assault and battery. All but the assault and battery allegations were dismissed early in the trial, however.

Neil Kenduck, Amplicon’s corporate counsel, said Tuesday that the company does not believe the evidence supported the jury’s action and intends to file a motion to invalidate the award. If that fails, the company will appeal, Kenduck said.

M. Christine Brady, McFetters’ attorney, said the suit is the first one she has handled in 15 years of practicing employment law that alleged that a corporate chief executive had physically abused an employee.

The jury award “sends a message to employers everywhere that violence in the workplace will not be tolerated,” she said.

McFetters, who began working at Amplicon in May 1989, said in his suit that his base salary had climbed to $76,000 from $27,000 a year because of various promotions by the time he left the company in January 1995. He often made substantially more through commissions, however, and alleges in the suit that Paddon began changing the company commission structure in order to reduce or eliminate McFetters’ commissions.

Things erupted in July 1994, the suit says, when Paddon overheard McFetters talking about commission plan changes with another employee. During an ensuing discussion with McFetters, the suit alleged, Paddon “lost control . . . hitting [McFetters] in the arm, grabbing him and dragging [him] out of the office.”

Another executive intervened and McFetters later agreed to stay with the company but altered his hours to avoid being alone in the office with Paddon, the suit says.

Still, the 5-foot 7-inch McFetters alleged in the suit, Paddon--a 6-footer--periodically sought him out to “physically and emotionally torment” him. McFetters said in the suit that he quit his job two years ago “in complete fear” after being told that Paddon wanted to meet with him “alone in his office.”