SAN FRANCISCO, April 17, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- In a ruling with potentially large fiscal implications for the Bay Area electric car manufacturer, San Mateo Superior Court Judge, Marie Weiner, found former Tesla Motors's Director of Communications David Vespremi "entitled to 10,000 incentive shares of Tesla Motors common stock" which the court valued at $207,000.
Tesla Motors was found to have run afoul of its obligation to provide some of these departing employees, and potentially as many as 99 in total, with stock options.
Vespremi originally brought his claims alleging libel and slander for what he felt was Tesla's unfair mischaracterization of his and others' job performance during a very public 2007 round of layoffs.
"I never expected what started off as a libel and slander claim to uncover a pattern and practice of depriving employees of stocks - but there you have it," stated Vespremi. "Five years ago all I wanted was an apology and a retraction of the untrue statements that had been made about me and many of my talented coworkers, but Tesla refused." Vespremi continued, "Now Tesla faces liability from dozens of former employees just like me."
San Francisco based employment attorney, Yosef Peretz, echoed Vespremi's sentiment. "In the span of years that our office has been handling this matter, this case has been through the Superior Court, up to the Court of Appeal, and back down to the Superior Court on a variety of issues before finally getting a decision on the merits that we received today. Tesla's pattern and practice of depriving its early employees of stock options came to light very late in the process. This case represents a well-deserved victory for the employees that labored long hours at Tesla with little pay or appreciation. Worse still," he added, "Vespremi's situation wasn't unique. As there are other employees with identical claims, Tesla faces substantial financial exposure that could have been avoided by simply acknowledging the hard work of its early team and retracting some pointedly negative statements."
About Peretz & Associates:
Peretz & Associates is a boutique plaintiff litigation firm in San Francisco, focusing primarily on employment law, class action and business disputes. The firm has become a leader in the litigation of business "divorces," representing founders, partners, and companies during corporate breakups and restructurings. The firm's caseload includes the successful representation of Tesla Motors' original founder, a founding partner in an international venture capital firm, a minority shareholder of an emerging advertising firm, a media and entertainment company in a dispute with its former principal, and the board members of a disaster-recovery company who were sued by the former CEO. For more information see www.peretzlaw.com.
SOURCE Peretz & Associates
