Herbert and Bui Simon Win Unanimous Jury Verdict on the Employment Claims of a Second Former Nanny

LOS ANGELES, Nov. 17, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- A Superior Court jury in Los Angeles today unanimously rejected a second former nanny's wage and employment claims against Indiana Pacers owner Herbert Simon and his wife Bui Simon.

The jury deliberated for only 30 minutes before returning a unanimous verdict that nanny Mayra Acosta had been paid for every hour she had worked for the Simons and that she was not owed any back wages.

This was the second decisive court victory in recent weeks over former Simon household employees, who are all represented by attorney Joseph Davis, whom the Simons have sued for defamation in an Indianapolis court.

In September, Superior Court Judge Amy D. Hogue rejected the employment claims of former nanny Claudia Leite Muehler and former driver Robert G. Young ruling that the testimony of the former employees was not credible. The Simons said the Court's ruling was vindication.

After filing suit against the Simons in March 2010, the second former nanny, Ms. Acosta, had claimed she was owed $500,000 in back wages and for other damages. But on the first day of the three-day trial, she dropped all of her claims except a claim for $14,000 in back pay. The jury found this claim without merit and unanimously agreed that Ms. Acosta was owed nothing.

"We have said from the beginning that these claims had no merit and as a matter of principle we would aggressively defend against them," said Mrs. Simon. "We would not have been setting the right example for our children had we decided to simply write a check to avoid negative publicity."

The Simons have been represented in both trials by Patricia Glaser and Joel Klevens of Glaser, Weil, Fink, Jacobs, Howard, Avchen & Shapiro LLP.

"We do not think any of these claims should have been brought in the first place," Ms. Glaser said.

SOURCE Herbert and Bui Simon