Opinion ID: 755554
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Kirsch's Relationship With Fleet Street

Text: 3 Kirsch became affiliated with Fleet Street in 1970 at the age of 42. He was hired as a road salesman for a territory that included New York, New Jersey, eastern Pennsylvania, and eventually New England. With the exception of sales to certain house accounts, which included retail stores owned by the Habers, Kirsch was to receive a 5% commission on all sales of Fleet Street merchandise within his territory, whether or not he made the sale. By 1989, he was earning an average of $80,000-$100,000 per year in commissions. 4 From March 1985 until April 1990, Kirsch was also a sales administrator. In that capacity, in addition to handling his own sales responsibilities, he acted as a liaison between Fleet Street and its road sales representatives (road reps), providing them with information as to such matters as the company's inventories, promotional merchandise, and product lines. For these additional duties, Kirsch was paid a salary of $200 per week. He was not, however, a supervisor of the road reps; he had no authority to hire or fire, to fix their compensation, to set their schedules, or to tell them how many hours they must work for the company in a given day. 5 In 1985, Alan Haber was the company's sales manager and Kirsch's supervisor. Alan had the power to hire and fire. In 1987, Steven Haber joined Fleet Street and became sales manager. Steven was 19 years of age and had no prior experience as a sales manager or administrator. At a semi-annual sales meeting after Steven became sales manager, five of the company's six road salespersons other than Kirsch were summarily fired; the sixth was forced out within the year. (Transcript of First Trial (First Tr.) 88.) All six were over the age of 50. Kirsch had no advance warning of the firings; he did not attend the meetings in which the individual road reps were terminated; and the Habers did not inform him thereafter of the reasons for the terminations. Kirsch testified that in the wake of these firings Alan Haber reassured him that he need not be apprehensive about his own status; sometime thereafter, however, Steven Haber told Kirsch at a sales meeting, You better watch your ass. If you look around, you see all young people. (First Tr. 94.) 6 In April 1990, Alan Haber informed Kirsch that, although Kirsch's duties and responsibilities would remain the same, and although he would be expected to maintain his same level of sales, Fleet Street was changing Kirsch's compensation. Instead of the 5% commission on all non-house-account sales in his territory, which previously had brought him $80,000-$100,000 a year, the company would pay him a fixed annual salary of $60,000; it would also pay him an override of 2% on sales to his customers to the extent that those sales exceeded $2 million per year. Kirsch objected; but he testified that Alan Haber told him that if he fought the change, Fleet Street would fire him. Kirsch continued at Fleet Street until May 1991. 7 In May 1991, Fleet Street hired Gail Kedrus, age 38, to be its national sales director. Kedrus had previously been director of sales at other garment manufacturing companies, where she had been responsible for 10-person and 15-person sales staffs. At Fleet Street, she was placed in charge of sales and discipline of the sales staff and was given responsibility for finding new growth opportunities, developing marketing strategies, and pursuing new accounts. Her annual salary was to begin at $80,000, and she was promised a share of company profits in the future. 8 Kedrus testified that prior to being hired by Fleet Street, she had several interviews with Manny Haber, Alan Haber, and Steven Haber. In the course of the interviews, Kedrus inquired about the staff who would be reporting to her; Manny said there would be four salespersons, whose names he did not mention but whom he proceeded to describe. One was said to be a well-respected salesman about Kedrus's age; one was described as a young and very energetic person who was upcoming in the company; one was described as a longtime employee who handled closeouts; and the fourth was described only as a person who would probably not be there when [Kedrus] started. (First Tr. 718.) Kedrus later learned that that fourth person was Kirsch. Manny Haber did not explain why he expected Kirsch to leave Fleet Street. When Kedrus thereafter asked specific questions about personnel and company strategies, Manny deferred to Steven (First Tr. 741), who responded that the company was interested in new younger vision, new younger blood (First Tr. 728; see also id. 741). 9 Kedrus began work at Fleet Street in mid-May 1991. At the end of May, Alan Haber informed Kirsch, then age 63, that Fleet Street would no longer pay him $60,000 a year, and that his salary would be cut to $26,000. Alan also told Kirsch that Kirsch's largest account, Stern's, would be reassigned to Kedrus. Sales to Stern's had averaged approximately $750,000 a year, constituting some 40-45% of Kirsch's sales. Kirsch testified that he told Alan Haber that he could not live on $26,000 and that it seemed to him that Fleet Street had decided, when its prior reduction in compensation had not caused Kirsch to resign, that the company would make him an even more onerous offer that he could not possibly accept; Alan Haber nodded. Kirsch did not accept the offer; he promptly left Fleet Street's offices and never returned. 10 During the next year and a half, Fleet Street made severance payments to Kirsch totaling $20,769, the equivalent of 18 weeks' pay at the $60,000 salary level. Kirsch sought other employment. In September 1992 he became a salesman for another company (Tomen), working for a 5% commission and earning $30,635 in 1992, $21,759 in 1993, and an unspecified sum in the first half of 1994, which the court later estimated at $10,880. 11 In June 1994, Tomen laid Kirsch off. Within two weeks, he and his wife sold their home in New York and moved to Florida. Kirsch testified that that move did not reflect a decision on his part to leave the workforce. He stated that they moved to Florida because the cost-of-living there was lower and he had been unable to obtain employment in New York, and that he had intended to continue working until age 70. However, he testified that the extent of his efforts to look for work after moving to Florida was to inform some of his New York acquaintances that he was available to show their products in Florida. He testified that when he and his wife moved to Florida, I retired. (First Tr. 164.)