SAN FRANCISCO -- As the crackdown on corporate fraud continues, some executives are suing their former companies, saying they were fired after refusing to cook the books.
There's no nationwide tally of such lawsuits. But with so much shady accounting and pressure to meet Wall Street numbers in recent years, attorneys say more corporate executives and whistle-blowers are striking back and not taking the fall for higher-ups.
Some cases are pending in:
* Silicon Valley. Ronald Sorisho, a former vice president at high-tech contractor Solectron in Milpitas, Calif., says in a lawsuit filed last week that he was canned because he believed the firm should have written down $45 million in obsolete inventory.
But executives refused to allow the write-down, saying it would hurt the firm's earnings and stock price, the lawsuit alleges.
Solectron spokesman Kevin Whalen denies the allegations, calling them ''baseless'' and ''sour grapes.'' Sorisho was let go for poor performance, he says.
* Hollywood. A former executive hired by fallen super-agent Michael Ovitz sued him last week, alleging she was let go because she told auditors that Ovitz's Artists Management Group was misusing $4 million in annual funds from partner Vivendi.
Cathy Schulman, who ran Ovitz's film-production unit, charges that Ovitz fired her ''in a rage'' and engaged in a ''public smear campaign'' against her.
Ovtiz's attorney, Terry Sanchez of Munger Tolles & Olson in Los Angeles, declined to comment Friday.
* Texas. Bradley Farnsworth, the former controller at Dynegy, sued the Houston energy firm in August. He alleges he was dismissed because he would not manipulate natural-gas trading data and earnings.
Dynegy spokesman John Sousa says the company will investigate the allegations and prove them false.
Dynegy says Farnsworth never raised red flags with the company's board or audit committee, and he signed off on financial statements for fiscal 2000.
Dynegy's accounting practices are under investigation by the Justice Department and the Securities and Exchange Commission.
In recent months, former executives and managers at Xerox, WorldCom and Global Crossing have filed similar lawsuits alleging wrongful termination.
A new federal law may encourage more whistle-blowers to speak up. It requires companies to set up confidential procedures for employees who suspect fraud, and it allows workers to sue if they are harassed, demoted or fired for reporting allegations.
''This gives employees a decent weapon,'' says Jonathan Ben-Asher, an attorney at the law firm of Beranbaum Menken Ben-Asher & Fishel in New York. ''We're going to see many more of these cases.''
Long term investors in Worldcom lost billions because they believed the CFO and the company's audited financial statements; they believed the CEO; they believed the auditors (Arthur Andersen); they believed the top Wall Street underwriters and securities analysts. All of these people turned out to be liars -- now the question is: will any of them really pay for their crimes and who will slip through with little or no consequences? I'm afraid most of the criminals at SSB/Citibank will slip through the cracks like the rats that they are.
In its statement, Citigroup said the loan amounts were incorrect. Of the $499 million that Mr. Ebbers' company borrowed in 1999, Citigroup said its Travelers units lent Mr. Ebbers' company $134 million, ...
Got that? Only $134 million from Citi. Now read on:
A Citigroup executive said the complaint double-counted the $180 million referenced in the February 2000 financing statement and that the amount actually was a subset of the $430 million mortgage loan made in 1999.
Yep, that $180 million was a subset of the original $134 million. King Hammurabi would have buried these crooks alive, and so should we.