- 27 -
unlike he, performed clerical, nonmanagerial work. Petitioner’s
business would have suffered dramatically, if not ceased
altogether, had Beiner disaffiliated himself from petitioner
during the subject years; any void created by his loss could not
have been filled by one or more other employees. Moreover, as
noted by Wertlieb, employees such as Beiner are not paid on an
hourly basis but are paid for their leadership, knowledge, and
experience and for their ultimate accountability in achieving
company goals. In this regard, Wertlieb noted, Beiner was the
locomotive of petitioner’s business, and, but for him, petitioner
would not have been able to obtain its inventory at the discount
prices that allowed it to function as profitably as it did. In
fact, Wertlieb noted, the special relationships which Beiner
developed with the three OEMs allowed petitioner to report
greater gross profit margins and returns on sales and investment
than virtually any other similar public company for which data
was available for 1999 and 2000.
Respondent concedes that Beiner played an “important” role
in petitioner’s business. However, respondent asserts, Beiner’s
services were nonspecialized, Beiner spent little time in
petitioner’s business, Beiner devoted a significant amount of his
time to working for California Controls, and Beiner’s brother was
a primary income-producing factor in petitioner’s business.
Page: Previous 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 NextLast modified: May 25, 2011