Former Wal-Mart marketing executive Julie Roehm, fired after only nine months on the job for alleged ethical violations, has fired back with her own accusations of improper conduct at the highest levels of Wal-Mart.
In a court filing related to her lawsuit for unlawful dismissal, Roehm accuses Wal-Mart CEO Lee Scott and other top execs of accepting trips, concert tickets and other gifts from company vendors. In particular, she charged that Scott used private airplanes provided by financier Irwin Jacobs, whose companies do business with Wal-Mart, and received a discount from Jacobs on the purchase of an expensive diamond ring.
Spokesmen for both Wal-Mart and Jacobs quickly denied the allegations and the lawyer for Jacobs threatened to sue Roehm unless she recants.
