Attorney Jeffrey F. Ryan Wins Difficult Motion in Superior Court

REDWOOD CITY, CA--(Marketwired - Feb 11, 2016) - In January 2016, attorney Jeffrey F. Ryan was retained to represent a female employee, (plaintiff), of a southern California employer, (defendant), who claims she had been wrongfully terminated after she called the police when a customer assaulted her while she was under the defendant's employ. The defendant claims the plaintiff's actions compromised his business and terminated her for calling the police; which is in violation of the public policy of reporting a crime to the police without retaliation.

Realizing the law permits pretrial discovery of financial information only when the Court finds there is a substantial probability that the plaintiff will prevail on his or her claim for punitive damages at trial, Mr. Ryan filed a pretrial motion of financial net worth discovery from both defendants. These types of motions are extremely difficult to attain as the burden of proof is high, so if awarded it will substantially increase the probability of success at trial. Making the task even more difficult for Mr. Ryan is that there was no legal precedent in California where an employer is found liable for wrongful termination of an employee who called the police when a customer, rather than a co-worker, assaulted the employee; which makes this a 'case of first impression.' Further, the motion revealed egregious actions by the employer which could lead to a punitive damage award in favor of Mr. Ryan's client.

Jeffrey F. Ryan recently arranged and led a team of attorneys in a whistleblower case that resulted in a $75.5M settlement in favor of the firm's client. Over the past seven years, Mr. Ryan has settled over ten cases with settlements in excess of seven figures.

The Law Offices of Jeffrey F. Ryan is an association of attorneys licensed to practice law before all of the courts in the State of California, with a focus on business litigation in the areas of employment law, business disputes, trade secret and intellectual property law, and insurance bad faith cases. The firm also handles the negotiation of severance packages for executives. The Law Office of Jeffrey F. Ryan acts in the best interests of its clients, the law, and the courts at all times.