Ichter Thomas Obtain Favorable Awards Following Two (2) Arbitration Hearings in Three (3) Weeks

In November 2010, Cary Ichter and Dan Davis of Ichter Thomas, LLC, participated in two (2) arbitration hearings within three (3) weeks—one before the AAA Employment Arbitration Tribunal and another before the Financial Industry Regulatory  Authority—and obtained, on their clients’ behalf, successful awards in both cases for an aggregate recovery of $656,784.

In the first hearing, which spanned November 15 to November 18, 2011, Ichter Thomas represented Jim Griffin, the former Chairman of the Board of Directors of J.E. Dunn Southeast, Inc. d/b/a R.J. Griffin & Company, a general contracting firm (“J.E. Dunn”), in the matter of arbitration between R.J. Griffin , Jr. and J.E. Dunn Construction Company, the parent company, before the AAA Employment Arbitration Tribunal. 

Mr. Griffin founded R.J. Griffin & Company in 1985.   After J.E. Dunn acquired R.J. Griffin & Company, Mr. Griffin remained in an executive capacity for ten (10) years. With six (6) months remaining in his employment agreement, J.E. Dunn fired Mr. Griffin, allegedly for “Cause.” After J.E. Dunn repeatedly refused to meet with him and mediation failed, Mr. Griffin filed a demand for arbitration asserting that J.E. Dunn breached his employment agreement by terminating him without Cause and refusing to pay his salary and benefits through the remainder of the contract term. In only eight (8) months, despite extensive discovery and collateral litigation in the United States District Court for the Western District of Missouri, Mr. Griffin obtained an award in the principal amount of $443,059—including an order assessing all costs of the arbitration against J.E. Dunn.   For a complete copy of the final award, click here.

In the second hearing, which commenced ten (10) days later and following Thanksgiving, Ichter Thomas represented William Jeff Brooks in arbitration against Wells Fargo Advisors, LLC, the second-largest brokerage firm in the United States (“Wells Fargo”), and Mr. Brooks’ former financial advisor. That arbitration took place under the auspices of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”), which is the largest independent regulator of all securities firms doing business in the United States, and operates a dispute resolution forum subject to unique procedural rules.

Mr. Brooks entered into a brokerage relationship with Wells Fargo in January 2010. In about six (6) months, he realized several hundreds of thousands of dollars in losses. As a result, Mr. Brooks filed a statement of claim alleging that he was induced to transfer his security holdings to Wells Fargo based on representations concerning an illegal commission agreement and promises to refinance multiple loans, and that his advisor engaged in an excessive number of trades in light of investment objectives (“churning”) and used margin to purchase various equities without authorization.  Just over one (1) year later, Mr. Brooks obtained an award in the principal amount of $213,725 against his former brokerage firm and financial advisor, jointly and severally—including an order assessing all costs of the arbitration against the Respondents.

For more information regarding these cases, please contact Cary Ichter or Dan Davis at (404) 869-7600.

Tagged as: AAA Employment Arbitration, arbitration award, churning, dispute resolution, employment arbitration, Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, FINRA, illegal commission agreement, J.E.Dunn, Jeff Brooks, Jim Griffin, R.J. Griffin, security holdings, Wells Fargo, William Jeff Brooks