EX OFFICE-DEPOT EMPLOYEE WAS TOLD TO FALSIFY RECORDS …….

[Anonymous]

http://www.insidebayarea.com/argus/localnews/ci_12931571
Ex-Office Depot worker says company asked him to falsify records on Berkeley overcharges
A
Fremont man, claiming he lost his job at Office Depot because he
refused to falsify data that showed the company overcharged the city of
Berkeley hundreds of thousands of dollars, is suing the office-supply
giant in federal court.Earl Ante, a former Office Depot salesman, seeks
unspecified damages for lost wages, benefits, mental distress and
punitive damages. He filed the suit in federal court in San Francisco
about the same time the owner of a rival office-supply store in
Hercules used purchasing records she obtained through a public records
request to show Berkeley officials that Office Depot overcharged the
city $289,000 from early 2007 to early 2009.Berkeley officials
conducted their own investigation of the city’s contract with Office
Depot and came to the same conclusion. Office Depot paid back the city
in April.

In a letter to Berkeley Councilman Kriss Worthington,
who helped uncover the Office Depot overcharges, Ante’s attorney said
he will subpoena city records relating to the contract and depose “the
most knowledgeable person in connection with these allegations.”If
Ante’s allegations prove true, he deserves a pat on the back for
refusing to alter the data, Worthington said.”It’s wonderful to learn
that some employee would have the ethics to not just do what he was
ordered to do,” Worthington said. “Based on what he is claiming, it
seems like if he had gone along and changed the records, the city might
not havethis info, so we’re lucky he didn’t do it if that’s what he was
asked. They should be grateful to an employee who is honest.”

Office
Depot’s legal woes since have escalated, and the company says it is
cooperating with attorneys general in California, Florida, Texas,
Missouri, Colorado and Ohio regarding contract discrepancies. It is
also under investigation by the U.S. Department of Defense, Department
of Education and the General Services Administration.

According
to the suit filed by Ante in January, he was laid off Nov. 21. The suit
claims that Ante had no knowledge Berkeley was being overcharged. When
Office Depot learned that Berkeley was about to audit its contract, the
suit says Ante’s manager “directed him to alter data on his company
computer with respect to the record of transactions between the City of
Berkeley and the defendant.”Ante’s lawyer, John McMorrow, was out of
town and unavailable for comment.Office Depot declined to comment on
the lawsuit. On Tuesday, the company reported a net loss of $82 million
in the second quarter on a 22 percent decline in sales.

[Author]

July 30, 2009 at 11:07 AM