Patrick H. King v. Ac & R Advertising Saatchi & Saatchi Company Plc Alvin Chereskin Harry J. Koenig

Patrick King sued defendants AC & R Advertising, Inc. (“AC & R”), Alvin Cheres-kin, and Harry Koenig, for wrongful termination and age discrimination under California state laws. The district court dismissed King’s claim against Chereskin and Koenig (as individuals) for age discrimination under the California Fair Employment and Housing Act, and granted the defendants summary judgment on King’s breach of contract, age discrimination in employment, and intentional infliction of emotional distress claims. We have jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291 , and we affirm.

I.

King worked as an advertising executive in Australia until 1987, when he was hired to run the West Coast operations of AC & R, a New York-based general advertising agency. At that time, Stephen Rose, AC & R’s then-Chief Executive Officer, represented to King that he eventually would be moved to New York and groomed to take over Rose’s position as CEO of the entire company. King claims that he accepted Rose’s offer only upon receiving a career commitment that he would not be discharged from AC & R absent malfeasance.

King’s employment relationship with AC & R initially was governed by a written employment…