Montgomery Co. man sues Yusen after termination for failing to meet 'impossible' sales target, alleges age discrimination

HOUSTON - A Montgomery County man alleges Yusen Logistics Americas Inc. fired him for not meeting what he believes is an impossible sales goal, recent court documents say.

In a lawsuit filed May 24 in the Houston Division of the Southern District of Texas, Scott Nicholas shows the termination was rooted in age discrimination.

Nicholas worked for Yusen from 1981 to 2012.

At the time of the subject event, the plaintiff was employed as a director of business development for Mexico.

The suit states that the defendant informed him of its disapproval of an above average review he received in or around February 2012.

In late April 2012, it recalls, the company changed Nicholas's goals and set a new sales target for him to get sales that would yield $50,000 in gross margins per month.

According to the original petition, it takes about 60 days to get a contract in place therefore "it was impossible to achieve these goals in only a few months."

"Because of these unrealistic and unattainable targets, the plaintiff did not meet the company's goals after the first 30 days," the suit says.

"Instead, he was warned that he had not achieved the $50,000 in gross margins that was expected of him."

Yusen terminated the complainant on July 11, 2012.

The suit argues that Nicholas's younger counterparts did not yield the sales figures they were pressed to produce, but the respondent retained them nonetheless.

A jury trial is requested.

Attorney Michael A. Starzyk of Starzyk & Associates PC in The Woodlands is representing Nicholas.

Case No. 4:13-CV-1541