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appreciable extent caused the increase in petitioner's sales in
1990. Such a fabric was desirable, not simply because of
fortuitous fashion trends, but because such a fabric was useful
in a wide variety of garments.
Respondent makes the argument that the large amount of
commissions paid by petitioner to its salespeople in 1990 creates
an inference that the efforts of the salespeople had a direct
influence on the increase in gross receipts that year. However,
the evidence indicates that petitioner's salesmen received no
greater percentage commission that year than in previous years.
Therefore, this evidence does not indicate that the efforts of
the salespeople were entirely responsible for the dramatic
increase in sales. The evidence indicates that the sales staff
earned large commissions at least in part because of the
desirability of the product petitioner produced during the year
at issue.
The second factor listed above is salaries paid by similar
companies for similar services. Each party offered testimony of
an expert with respect to this factor.
Respondent's witness, E. James Brennan III (Mr. Brennan),
the president of a personnel and pay practice consulting firm,
testified that the salaries of the Penalbas were unreasonable.
He relied on information from other firms the same size in sales
as petitioner. Mr. Brennan concluded that the CEO function
should be used to compare to Mr. Penalba's salary, while the top
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