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Former local Centex chief sues to get $355,000 bonus
By Jim Wasserman - jwasserman@sacbee.com
Published 12:11 pm PDT Monday, July 21, 2008
The former head of Centex Corp. home building operations in Sacramento, Reno and the Bay Area has filed a lawsuit against the company, alleging it failed to pay $355,000 in promised bonus money.
Doug Pautsch Jr. filed the suit in Placer County Superior Court last month. Monday, he said he was terminated shortly afterward by Dallas-based Centex. Pautsch, who joined the Sacramento division as controller in 1998, then became president in early 2006, left the division July 11.
At the time a Centex spokesman attributed Pautsch's layoff to a consolidation of the three divisions into one based in Sacramento. Central Valley division President Mike Wyatt replaced Pautsch.
But the lawsuit states that Pautsch assumed control of the three divisions in April.
Centex declined to comment on the suit. "As a matter of policy, we will not discuss matters pending in litigation," spokesman Eric Bruner said in an e-mail.
Pautsch's lawsuit states that in September 2007 he was promised a bonus up to $500,000 for meeting certain "metrics" that included sales, finances and customer satisfaction. Pautsch alleged he was paid $100,000 after meeting conditions that guaranteed him a $455,000 bonus.
The suit alleges that Centex Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Timothy Eller "falsely claimed that the bonus was discretionary and stated that the ... bonus was being reduced based on the Company's financial losses."
During much of Pautsch's tenure, Centex dominated new home sales in the region.
"It was a written bonus and it was very clear," Pautsch said Monday. He said he talked with his Centex superiors about the issue before filing the lawsuit.
"Shortly after that I was let go," he said. "It appears to us it's retaliatory, and my attorney and I are considering adding legal action for wrongful termination to it."
Pautsch's Sacramento attorney Gary R. Basham said Monday that the timing of Pautsch's termination "is pretty suspect."
About the writer:
- Call The Bee's Jim Wasserman, (916) 321-1102.
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