WAL-MART hires ex-CIA men to spy on staff
WAL-MART hires ex-CIA men to spy on staff
April 01, 2007
EMPLOYEES of retail giant Wal-Mart have a very good reason to stick to the company's strict corporate policies - if they don't, they're very likely to get caught.
That's because Wal-Mart, the largest retailer in the US, maintains a dedicated team of ex-spies and former federal agents to police its own staff.
So far, its crack team of former officials from the Central Intelligence Agency, Federal Bureau of Investigations have dug up information that has led to the firing of a high-profile board member who used company funds to buy hunting equipment, two senior advertising executives who took expensive gifts from a potential supplier and a computer technician who taped a reporter's telephone calls.
Employees have even called Wal-Mart's investigative tactics 'ruthless', reported the New York Times (NYT).
In 2002, one investigator followed a Wal-Mart manager all the way to Guatemala just to get proof that he was sleeping with a lower-level employee, a violation of company policy.
The manager was fired after the investigator reported hearing 'moans' from the hotel room the couple shared.
And when two former marketing executives sued the company for wrongful termination, Wal-Mart despatched its team to dig up truckloads of evidence to counter the suit.
Among the dirt they uncovered were e-mail records showing that the two married executives were having an affair with each other, that they accepted free meals from an advertising agency vying for Wal-Mart's business, and that they were negotiating a deal to leave Wal-Mart for the agency.
These no-holds-barred tactics have much to do with the low prices Wal-Mart famously offers to its customers.
Founder Sam Walton was known to be unforgiving of employee misconduct because he equated the wayward behaviour with inefficiency that would cost customers money.
Mr Kenneth Senser, a former top official at the CIA and FBI who runs Wal-Mart's security department, said the company is determined to enforce its employment policies, no matter how senior those involved are.
'If it's a senior vice-president or cashier in the store, we are going to look at the allegations the same way - and not give somebody a pass,' MrSenser, who heads a team of 400, told NYT.
However, there are some employees who feel that Wal-Mart is using its investigative team to intimidate employees who question authority or raise issues their bosses wish to remain secret.
Mr James Lynn, a former factory inspection manager, claims Wal-Mart launched a witchhunt against him because he openly criticised the working conditions in the Central American factories he had inspected.
Mr Lynn, who was the manager in the Guatemala incident, was fired after his relationship with a subordinate was discovered.
Mr Senser has dismissed MrLynn's accusations.
'We are not in the business of prosecuting people, or pursuing an allegation to find a violation of the law,' he said.
'We operate for the benefit of our shareholders to make sure this company is being appropriately and ethically run. There is a difference.'
Copyright © 2005 Singapore Press Holdings Ltd. Co. Regn. No. 198402868E. All rights reserved.
April 01, 2007
EMPLOYEES of retail giant Wal-Mart have a very good reason to stick to the company's strict corporate policies - if they don't, they're very likely to get caught.
That's because Wal-Mart, the largest retailer in the US, maintains a dedicated team of ex-spies and former federal agents to police its own staff.
So far, its crack team of former officials from the Central Intelligence Agency, Federal Bureau of Investigations have dug up information that has led to the firing of a high-profile board member who used company funds to buy hunting equipment, two senior advertising executives who took expensive gifts from a potential supplier and a computer technician who taped a reporter's telephone calls.
Employees have even called Wal-Mart's investigative tactics 'ruthless', reported the New York Times (NYT).
In 2002, one investigator followed a Wal-Mart manager all the way to Guatemala just to get proof that he was sleeping with a lower-level employee, a violation of company policy.
The manager was fired after the investigator reported hearing 'moans' from the hotel room the couple shared.
And when two former marketing executives sued the company for wrongful termination, Wal-Mart despatched its team to dig up truckloads of evidence to counter the suit.
Among the dirt they uncovered were e-mail records showing that the two married executives were having an affair with each other, that they accepted free meals from an advertising agency vying for Wal-Mart's business, and that they were negotiating a deal to leave Wal-Mart for the agency.
These no-holds-barred tactics have much to do with the low prices Wal-Mart famously offers to its customers.
Founder Sam Walton was known to be unforgiving of employee misconduct because he equated the wayward behaviour with inefficiency that would cost customers money.
Mr Kenneth Senser, a former top official at the CIA and FBI who runs Wal-Mart's security department, said the company is determined to enforce its employment policies, no matter how senior those involved are.
'If it's a senior vice-president or cashier in the store, we are going to look at the allegations the same way - and not give somebody a pass,' MrSenser, who heads a team of 400, told NYT.
However, there are some employees who feel that Wal-Mart is using its investigative team to intimidate employees who question authority or raise issues their bosses wish to remain secret.
Mr James Lynn, a former factory inspection manager, claims Wal-Mart launched a witchhunt against him because he openly criticised the working conditions in the Central American factories he had inspected.
Mr Lynn, who was the manager in the Guatemala incident, was fired after his relationship with a subordinate was discovered.
Mr Senser has dismissed MrLynn's accusations.
'We are not in the business of prosecuting people, or pursuing an allegation to find a violation of the law,' he said.
'We operate for the benefit of our shareholders to make sure this company is being appropriately and ethically run. There is a difference.'
Copyright © 2005 Singapore Press Holdings Ltd. Co. Regn. No. 198402868E. All rights reserved.
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