On July 6, 2018, a team of Masuda Funai litigators, led by John Stanis, obtained an order from the Second Judicial District Court of Minnesota granting judgment for $5.77 million against Robert W. Neal, the client’s former president, for breaching his fiduciary duties to the company and converting the company’s money for his own personal and family use, including extravagant vacations, gifts and more.
Although Neal and his counsel attempted to fight back by asserting counter-claims for national origin and race discrimination, as Neal was replaced by a Japanese citizen after his termination, the Court previously granted summary judgment to the company and dismissed Neal’s claims in their entirety based on the protections provided to both American and Japanese companies under the 1953 Treaty of Friendship, Commerce and Navigation between the United States and Japan. Masuda Funai has frequently used this defense to defeat national origin and race discrimination claims based on the right of Japanese companies to select executives from Japan for their U.S. subsidiaries.
Court: Second Judicial District Court of Minnesota (Ramsey County)
Case No.: 62-CV-16-2131