Herr v. Nestlé U.S.A., Inc., 109 Cal. App. 4th 779 (2003)

Richard Herr alleged age discrimination in violation of the California Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) against his former employer, Nestlé, and obtained a jury verdict in the amount of $5,163,600. Herr also successfully asserted a claim under the Unfair Competition Law (UCL) in which he obtained equitable relief from the trial court in the form of an order requiring Nestlé to repudiate a written objectives memorandum that directed the company to continue to hire “young people.” The trial court also ordered Nestlé to disseminate the final judgment in Herr’s favor to all of the company’s employees. The Court of Appeal held that the trial court had not erred in granting Herr equitable relief under the UCL because “an employer which practices age discrimination may have an unfair competitive edge over employers who comply with the FEHA.”