L.A. Clippers
Released by the L.A. Clippers in 2008 as its general manager and
executive vice president, Elgin Baylor sued the team for unlawful
termination based on his age. Also claiming racial discrimination
by the team, Baylor and his lawyers sought nearly $2 million in
economic and mental distress damages.
Refusing to settle and willing to take the lawsuit all the way
to trial, the Clippers hired Manatt to mount an aggressive defense.
With the court finding no merit to the race claims and throwing
them out just one day before the trial was set to begin, our trial
team -- consisting of Robert Platt, Esra Hudson and
Justin Johnson -- was able to concentrate its efforts on
unraveling the plaintiff's claim of age discrimination.
Our arguments in court resulted in a slam-dunk decision in favor
of our client. By a 12-0 vote, the jury determined that neither the
team, owner Donald T. Sterling, nor president Andy Roeser engaged
in age discrimination in regard to Baylor's termination.