Posted on 09/06/2001 1:22:48 PM PDT by Moleman
DEARBORN -- will file a countersuit today against a former human resources manager who sued the automaker for reverse discrimination and went public with internal company documents.
Ford is asking a Wayne Circuit judge to find that John H. Kovacs, 36, breached his employment contract by removing company documents. Ford also is asking the court to order Kovacs to return the documents and forbid him and his lawyers from further disseminating the information.
The company is not seeking monetary compensation from Kovacs.
Kovacs' highly publicized federal lawsuit filed in June against Ford Credit and Ford President Jacques Nasser contained dozens of internal memos, meeting minutes and lists of internal candidates for promotions to support his claim that Ford routinely discriminated against white males.
Ford's chief spokesman Jason Vines said Ford is filing a countersuit because Kovacs "stole documents for his own personal benefit."
A draft of Ford's lawsuit states Kovacs agreed upon his hiring not to make unauthorized copies or take possession of company documents.
Kovacs lawyer, James Fett, said Ford's claim is unfounded.
"It's protected activity to gather and preserve evidence of discrimination," Fett said. "The right to gather evidence of discrimination trumps any contract Ford has with its employees."
At Ford Credit, Kovacs was earning about $100,000 a year and handled human resources duties for three of the automaker's vice-presidents.
Kovacs, whose suit against Ford is pending, is still employed by the automaker. After a paid suspension, he was assigned to a post with Ford's archiving department.
Among the claims in Kovacs' lawsuit:
* Women and minorities are routinely promoted or hired over more qualified white males.
* Bonuses for Ford executives are tied in part to hiring and promoting more women and minorities.
* Ford Credit internal documents included in the lawsuit cite job openings and state "diversity candidate preferred" or "female candidate preferred."
* Ford Credit employees chosen as candidates for "stretch" promotions -- where the candidate needs some mentoring and assistance to handle a new post -- were exclusively women and minorities. The lawsuit includes copies of several lists of stretch candidates with each employee's race or gender.
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