Former Titan exec files $220,000 suit against ex-employer

DES MOINES, Iowa (Aug. 29)—A former Titan International Inc. executive is suing for more than $220,000 he says his former company owes him from past agreements. Michael R. Samide, who was Titan's vice president of operations and later chief operating officer during his tenure from November 1993 to January 1999, filed the suit in Polk County District Court Aug. 9. In the filing, Samide claims Titan breached its contract with him by not paying him money from a retirement trust agreement he had with Dico Inc., a Des Moines-based company later acquired by Titan, and from an unpaid portion of a bonus he earned in 1993. Titan had picked up the liability from any previous agreements when it purchased Dico parent Dyneer Corp. in November 1993. However, Titan CEO and President Maurice Taylor Jr. denied the claims, saying Titan doesn't owe Samide anything because neither he nor Dyneer ever created the trust.