First lawsuit against Google, then with HP; now an ex employee. Oracle lost the first two lawsuits, question is would third time be a charm!
Svetlana Blackburn, a senior finance manager at Oracle has filed a whistleblower lawsuit against the company alleging that she was fired after she resisted preparing unlawful accounting entries. She states that she warned her supervisor that she would report the issue to the authorities.
The company issued a statement stating that Blackburn was fired due to poor performance. On the other hand, Blackburn states that she received a positive performance review only two months prior to getting fired. If Blackburn can prove that her termination resulted at least partly due to her telling her supervisor of the issue, then the ball is in Oracle’s court (no pun intended) to prove that it would have fired Blackburn regardless of her blowing the whistle. How could either party do that – by hiring a forensic accountant or economist to perform a statistical analysis of the employer’s termination history.
What’s at stake: Compensatory damages for lost earnings and benefits, future earnings assuming that Blackburn would have retired with the company, special damages for emotional distress and punitive damages. Considering that a Senior Finance Manager in the bay area could earn anything from 150K- 200K per annum, rest you can do the math.
