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Politics : Formerly About Applied Materials -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Sam Citron who wrote (59157)	1/22/2002 3:26:06 PM
From: Sam Citron	Respond to of 70976

OT Value of checking other Investor BBs Presently the Enron message board is down at Yahoo. finance.yahoo.com January 21, 2002 Enron Manager Blasted Lay Online By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Filed at 9:35 p.m. ET HOUSTON (AP) -- An Enron (news/quote) manager who in September questioned Chairman Kenneth Lay about the company's accounting practices was fired two months later for making critical online remarks while using a company computer. Manager Clayton Vernon asked about the company's accounting in a Sept. 26 in-house online chat. ``He was a loyal employee who believed he and his fellow employees were misled by the company's top executives and its outside accountants and outside legal counsel,'' said Eli Gottesdiener, who is representing Vernon and other employees in a class-action lawsuit against Enron. Vernon told The New York Times (news/quote) in Monday's editions that he was fired Nov. 20, the day after posting a message on a Yahoo! (news/quote) message board that criticized Lay, calling the chairman ``the sorriest sack of garbage I have ever been associated with.'' He was at work and posted the message using an Enron computer. Vernon told the Times that he had no argument over his termination because it violated company policy. Vernon, through Gottesdiener, declined to talk to The Associated Press on Monday. The attorney said Vernon had a positive annual evaluation last October. Enron spokesman Mark Palmer declined comment on Vernon's firing, saying it was a personnel issue. He said Enron ``absolutely'' has a strict policy prohibiting personal use of company computers. In the electronic meeting, Vernon inquired about partnerships that allowed Enron to keep millions of dollars in debt off its books. Lay disagreed strongly when Vernon suggested the partnerships were sacrificing the company's future ``for the sake of present earnings.'' Lay told employees he and Enron's board of directors wouldn't approve such partnerships unless they had assurances from internal officers and then-auditor Arthur Andersen that they were legal and appropriate. Lay also encouraged employees to buy Enron stock and assured them that the company's finances and books were in solid shape. ``The third quarter is looking great,'' Lay said. Three weeks later, Enron announced a $618 million third-quarter loss and a $1.2 billion reduction in shareholder equity. Vernon provided a transcript of the discussion to his attorney, who released it to the media. nytimes.com