Strong evidence against Tennessee Commerce for violating whistleblower provisions- ordered to pay $1M to former CFO

OSHA has ruled that Tennessee Commerce Bancorp's leaders retaliated against former CFO George Fort when they fired him two years ago. The former CFO had raised red flags about Tennessee Commerce's internal controls and other governance issues with OSHA in April 2008 under the whistleblower provisions of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. The Nashville Post satates that Fort "had been placed on administrative leave the month before – the day after he met with officials from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. to discuss his concerns. He would be fired by the bank in May of that year and file a separate lawsuit two months later."

OSHA has ordered the bank to pay Fort more than $1 million in back wages, interest and other fees and to reinstate him to his old post.

David Michaels, assistant secretary of labor for OSHA, said "This case clearly shows the department's commitment to ensuring that individuals are provided the protections and relief afforded by the law and sends a strong message that retaliatory actions will not be tolerated."

It's been reported that Tennessee's Commerce will be appealing OSHA's ruling. Although this is true, it's been said there's “a strong inference of retaliation” in the bank’s actions.

One of the pieces of evidences discusses the timing of Fort’s being placed on administrative leave, investigators note that officials began working on a Securities and Exchange Commission filing before the bank’s board officially decided to sideline Fort. OSHA also reported that the current COO Lamar Cox e-mailed an auditor about a new CFO search five weeks before Fort was fired.

The report also states that “There is also evidence of animus and intent to retaliate against Complainant… Mr. Cox stated in one email that he was “in a ‘get even’ mode and I am enjoying every minute of it.”

Sources:
De Lombaerde, Geert. "‘Evidence of Animus and Intent to Retaliate’." Post Business. 19 Mar. 2010. Web. 22 Mar. 2010. http://business.nashvillepost.com
De Lombaerde, Geert. "Tennessee Commerce Told to Pay $1M to Former CFO." Nashville Post. 19 Apr. 2010. Web. 22 Mar. 2010. www.nashvillepost.com