It is less than four years from the time when a US communications expert was first approached to work for Esat Telecom to yesterday when he sat in the High Court bringing what could be the largest wrongful dismissal claim ever made in the State.

Mr Daniel Rogers worked at Esat for 13 months. According to Mr Rogers' lawyer Mr Adrian Hardiman SC, Mr Denis O'Brien, chairman and company director of Esat, persuaded Mr Rogers to leave his home and job in Iowa, USA, but things began to go wrong from the first day he went to work for Esat.

Esat will be fighting the case all the way and are denying Mr Rogers' claims. The case is scheduled to take nine days but the amount of documents in court indicate it could be longer.

With Mr Rogers and his wife Marsha present, Mr Hardiman yesterday painted a picture of mutual professional admiration between Mr Rogers and Mr O'Brien from January 1996 to May 1997 when Mr O'Brien made various job offers to him.

Mr Hardiman summed up the situation: "It is fair to say that Dan Rogers was `love bombed' by Esat to take up work with the company," Mr Hardiman said.

Mr Rogers was offered a job in April 1996 and he was flattered and surprised. The offer was repeated during three or four more contacts from Mr O'Brien.

But in March 1997, Mr O'Brien made Mr Rogers an offer he could not refuse.

He was offered a three-year contract but what really clinched it was that he would develop a new call centre business.

Mr Hardiman said Mr Rogers had a distinguished record in the communications business. Because of his expertise he was invited to establish a company in New Zealand and it drew him to the attention of Esat.

The court will not hear Mr O'Brien's version of events until next week or later but he will say that he did not induce Mr Rogers to cease his employment in the US.