On Feb. 19, 2010, plaintiff Scott Perry, 53, a store manager for a Supervalu Inc. store in Moreno Valley, was demoted to a clerk’s position as a result of taking newspapers from the store, in front of his employees, without paying for or expensing them. Perry was told that he had engaged in unbecoming conduct in front of employees and that he would be removed from his store manager position. However, he claimed that he had an implied contract not to be terminated or demoted without good cause, and that he was told by various supervisors over the years that he should pick up the newspaper to check on competing stores’ advertisements. Thus, he claimed that the demotion was a breach of contract. Perry originally sued Supervalu/Albertsons Inc., Supervalu Inc. and Leon Boeglin for wrongful termination/demotion and defamation. However, Boeglin was granted summary judgment and let out of the case, and the defamation claim was dismissed on summary adjudication. Consequently, the case only continued against Supervalu on the claim of wrongful termination/demotion. Perry claimed that he started in the industry in 1978 and that he had an implied contract not to be terminated or demoted without good cause. Thus, he alleged that Supervalu breached that contract by demoting him for taking newspapers from his store without paying for or expensing them. However, he claimed that he was told by various supervisors over the years that he should pick up a newspaper to check on competing stores’ advertisements and that that this went on for at least a decade. Perry alleged that when an employee complained that he took a newspaper without paying for it, he was told that he had engaged in unbecoming conduct in front of employees and that he would be removed from his store manager position and demoted to a clerk’s position. Perry claimed that he started working for Lucky’s in 1978 and that Lucky’s was later bought out by Albertsons in 1998. In 2006, Supervalu purchased certain Albertsons stores, including the store in which Perry worked. Plaintiff’s counsel contended that Lucky’s, Albertsons and Supervalu should all be considered a single employer, and noted that Supervalu calculated Perry’s benefits as a 32-year employee and gave him a pin after recognizing him as such. Plaintiff’s counsel asserted that, because of the implied contract between Perry and Supervalu, he was not an at-will employee. In addition, plaintiff’s counsel contended that Supervalu did not have good cause to terminate or demote Perry because it was common knowledge that there was a practice to take newspapers without paying for them to monitor competitors. In addition, counsel presented the testimony of at least four employees who agreed with Perry about the standard practice of taking newspapers. Supervalu denied Perry’s allegations and claimed that the practice of taking newspapers without paying for them was untrue. It claimed that store managers who took a paper knew to either pay for or expense the paper. Supervalu also claimed that no one told Perry to take the paper without paying for or expensing it. Defense counsel asserted that Perry only worked for Supervalu for approximately four years, not 32, because Supervalu did not purchase Perry’s store until 2006. In addition, the defense’s expert in store practices testified that employees in the grocery industry are all considered at-will employees., Perry claimed that his salary was reduced by 60 percent when he was demoted to the clerk’s position. The plaintiff’s economics expert calculated of Perry’s loss of earnings and benefits and reported that it as being $575,139. Thus, Perry sought recovery of $575,139 in damages for his loss of earnings and benefits from the date of his termination/demotion until his retirement, which was going to be about 12 years in the future.