Winston Mar has filed a complaint against SierraConstellation Partners, LLC and Lawrence Perkins, seeking a buyout of his partnership interest. The case was filed in the Superior Court of Los Angeles County on August 12, 2022, under Case No. 22STCV26170.
According to Mar's complaint, he entered into a general partnership with SierraConstellation Partners and Lawrence Perkins in June 2015 to operate a national interim management and advisory firm. On April 1, 2022, Mar dissociated from the partnership and demanded that his partners purchase his interest within 120 days as required by Corporations Code section 16701. However, the defendants did not respond or make any payment for Mar’s partnership interest. Consequently, Mar is seeking a court determination of the buyout price for his partnership interest along with an order directing the defendants to pay this amount plus interest. Additionally, he seeks costs of suit and reasonable attorneys’ fees.
In response to Mar's lawsuit, the Sierra defendants filed a motion to compel arbitration on November 29, 2022. They argued that Mar was bound by an arbitration agreement included in Sierra’s employee handbook since he continued working for the company for 19 months after being notified about it. According to Rebecca Waits, Sierra’s chief people officer, employees were informed via email on August 11, 2020, that their continued employment would constitute acceptance of the arbitration agreement. Despite repeated requests from Waits for signed acknowledgments of receipt from employees including Mar, he explicitly refused to sign any documents related to arbitration.
Mar opposed the motion to compel arbitration by asserting that he never agreed to arbitrate his claims as evidenced by his consistent refusal to sign any acknowledgment forms despite knowing it could lead to termination. He further stated that he believed the arbitration agreement did not apply to him as a partner at Sierra and reiterated this stance multiple times through emails and phone calls with Waits.
On March 10, 2023, Judge Maurice A. Leiter denied the motion to compel arbitration filed by SierraConstellation Partners and Lawrence Perkins. The court found that there was no mutual assent between parties regarding arbitration because Mar had clearly rejected the agreement and indicated willingness to be terminated if necessary over this issue.
The plaintiff is represented by Marc S. Williams and Martin J. Christopher Santos from Cohen Williams LLP while Sana Swe and Andrew W. Heger from Practus represent the defendants.