Employee Files Whistle-Blower Suit Against Wal-Mart
Employee Files Whistle-Blower Suit Against Wal-Mart
This article was published on
Thursday, August 31, 2006 10:45 PM CDT in News
By Anita French
The Morning News
Fallout from former Vice Chairman Tom Coughlin's fraud against Wal-Mart Stores Inc. in Bentonville continues as another lawsuit connected with that case has been filed against the retailer.
Rita Miles, who works in Wal-Mart's Labor Relations Department, filed a suit against her employer, claiming it violated the federal Sarbanes-Oxley Act by retaliating against Miles after she protested the alleged shredding of documents related to the Coughlin case by Wal-Mart. The suit was filed in U.S. District Court in Fayetteville.
Coughlin, 57, pled guilty in U.S. District Court in Fort Smith to five counts of wire fraud against Wal-Mart and also tax evasion. He was sentenced on Aug. 11 to 27 months of home confinement, five years probation and ordered to pay more than $460,000 in fines and restitution to Wal-Mart and the Internal Revenue Service.
Miles, who has been with Wal-Mart since 1999, says in her suit that a company attorney instructed her and other members of her department during the company's investigation of Coughlin in May 2005 that all hard copies and electronic versions of documents relating to the case should be preserved.
"Nevertheless, Aaron Campbell and Jana Wegner, project managers in (Miles') department immediately called a meeting and instructed (Miles) and others in her department to shred all documents once they had been scanned into the data base," the lawsuit states.
Miles claims she voiced her concern to the company that this order violated not only the subpoena but also instructions from the Wal-Mart attorney. Miles says in her suit she was told by the attorney later that the shredding was "permissible."
Miles notified the U.S. Attorney's Office in Fort Smith about her concerns, according to court documents. FBI agents and others from the U.S. Attorney's Office subsequently took possession of all documents related to the subpoena, the lawsuit states.
Miles alleges in her suit that Wal-Mart continued to shred certain documents in her department up until July 2005 and that, as a result of her having voiced her concerns over the matter, she was "immediately subject to retaliation ... through psychological and physical harassment, damage to her personal property and (by) giving her undeserved low evaluation scores."
Wal-Mart spokesman John Simley said Thursday that Wal-Mart retained copies of all documents that were requested by the U.S. Department of Justice subpoena in the Coughlin case.
"We cooperated fully in the investigation and there was never any finding of wrongdoing by the company," he said. "It was Wal-Mart that first brought its concerns about Mr. Coughlin to the attention of the Justice Department early last year.
"The bottom line is that we believe this complaint has no merit. An inquiry by (the Occupational Safety and Hazard Administration) earlier this year found that Ms. Miles has suffered no adverse employment action -- that was OSHA's exact words."
Miles is being represented by attorneys Jim Lingle of Rogers and Steve Kardell in Dallas, both of whom are also representing former Wal-Mart Vice President Jared Bowen in separate lawsuits.
Bowen, formerly of Garfield, was fired by Wal-Mart in 2005 for allegedly helping Coughlin cover up his fraud against the company. Bowen has filed a defamation lawsuit and also a Sarbanes-Oxley whistle-blower complaint against Wal-Mart.
Lingle declined to talk about the Miles' lawsuit in detail, except to say that Wal-Mart's claim that it preserved all documents in the Coughlin matter is "something that will come out during the case."
All content © The Morning News. Unauthorized distribution prohibited.
This article was published on
Thursday, August 31, 2006 10:45 PM CDT in News
By Anita French
The Morning News
Fallout from former Vice Chairman Tom Coughlin's fraud against Wal-Mart Stores Inc. in Bentonville continues as another lawsuit connected with that case has been filed against the retailer.
Rita Miles, who works in Wal-Mart's Labor Relations Department, filed a suit against her employer, claiming it violated the federal Sarbanes-Oxley Act by retaliating against Miles after she protested the alleged shredding of documents related to the Coughlin case by Wal-Mart. The suit was filed in U.S. District Court in Fayetteville.
Coughlin, 57, pled guilty in U.S. District Court in Fort Smith to five counts of wire fraud against Wal-Mart and also tax evasion. He was sentenced on Aug. 11 to 27 months of home confinement, five years probation and ordered to pay more than $460,000 in fines and restitution to Wal-Mart and the Internal Revenue Service.
Miles, who has been with Wal-Mart since 1999, says in her suit that a company attorney instructed her and other members of her department during the company's investigation of Coughlin in May 2005 that all hard copies and electronic versions of documents relating to the case should be preserved.
"Nevertheless, Aaron Campbell and Jana Wegner, project managers in (Miles') department immediately called a meeting and instructed (Miles) and others in her department to shred all documents once they had been scanned into the data base," the lawsuit states.
Miles claims she voiced her concern to the company that this order violated not only the subpoena but also instructions from the Wal-Mart attorney. Miles says in her suit she was told by the attorney later that the shredding was "permissible."
Miles notified the U.S. Attorney's Office in Fort Smith about her concerns, according to court documents. FBI agents and others from the U.S. Attorney's Office subsequently took possession of all documents related to the subpoena, the lawsuit states.
Miles alleges in her suit that Wal-Mart continued to shred certain documents in her department up until July 2005 and that, as a result of her having voiced her concerns over the matter, she was "immediately subject to retaliation ... through psychological and physical harassment, damage to her personal property and (by) giving her undeserved low evaluation scores."
Wal-Mart spokesman John Simley said Thursday that Wal-Mart retained copies of all documents that were requested by the U.S. Department of Justice subpoena in the Coughlin case.
"We cooperated fully in the investigation and there was never any finding of wrongdoing by the company," he said. "It was Wal-Mart that first brought its concerns about Mr. Coughlin to the attention of the Justice Department early last year.
"The bottom line is that we believe this complaint has no merit. An inquiry by (the Occupational Safety and Hazard Administration) earlier this year found that Ms. Miles has suffered no adverse employment action -- that was OSHA's exact words."
Miles is being represented by attorneys Jim Lingle of Rogers and Steve Kardell in Dallas, both of whom are also representing former Wal-Mart Vice President Jared Bowen in separate lawsuits.
Bowen, formerly of Garfield, was fired by Wal-Mart in 2005 for allegedly helping Coughlin cover up his fraud against the company. Bowen has filed a defamation lawsuit and also a Sarbanes-Oxley whistle-blower complaint against Wal-Mart.
Lingle declined to talk about the Miles' lawsuit in detail, except to say that Wal-Mart's claim that it preserved all documents in the Coughlin matter is "something that will come out during the case."
All content © The Morning News. Unauthorized distribution prohibited.
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