Starkey quietly settles two wrongful-termination lawsuits

Starkey Laboratories quietly settled two wrongful termination lawsuits last month related to a mass firing of its executive staff nearly two years ago.

The firings came after an internal investigation revealed potential wrongdoing of former President Jerry Ruzicka, who has since been charged in federal court along with two other executives and two business colleagues of embezzling more than $20 million from Starkey.

Keith Guggenberger, the former operations vice president, and former executive assistant Julie Miller sued the Eden Prairie maker of hearing aids, claiming breach of contract. The two were fired in the same week as Ruzicka.

Terms of the settlement, reached in late June, are confidential.

"The matters have been resolved to the satisfaction of the company," Starkey spokesman Jon Austin said, declining any other statements.

Lawyers for Guggenberger and Miller were unavailable for comment.

Guggenberger claimed in a lawsuit filed a month after his September 2015 firing that he did nothing wrong and that the company had engaged in breach of contract, defamation of character and spying. He had worked at the company for 29 years and sought damages of $10.9 million. The lawsuit stated that under his employment contract, he was owed about $1.2 million in wages plus benefits.

Her complaint alleged that the executive assistants of other fired Starkey employees were allowed to remain with the company. Those assistants were not married to Starkey executives, she said. As a result, Miller's lawsuit accused Starkey of "marital status discrimination," and of violating the Minnesota Human Rights Act.

A third wrongful termination lawsuit filed against Starkey is still in court. It was filed in January 2016 by Ruzicka. That lawsuit is on hold until the federal criminal case is resolved.

Ruzicka — along with Scott Nelson, the fired chief financial officer, and Larry Miller — is charged with criminal fraud for allegedly misappropriating $15 million in restricted Starkey stock, creating sham companies and/or illegally pocketing fake commissions, bonuses and loans.

The three former executives and two indicted associates have all pleaded not guilty. That trial begins in early January 2018.

Jeffrey Longtain, who was accused of participating in the restricted stock scheme, pleaded guilty to tax evasion charges in the spring.