One way or another, Roy Olofson just was not cut out for accounting, as practiced by Global Crossing.
To hear his lawyers tell it, Olofson, 63, the former vice president for finance at Global Crossing, was an old-fashioned, by-the-book numbers man who was fired for blowing the whistle on dubious bookkeeping.
But Global Crossing says it is a case of a disgruntled executive. The company says Olofson is now making Enronian accounting allegations only because he wanted a better termination package.
"Mr. Olofson is a former employee who is trying to draw parallels to the Enron situation for his own personal gain," Global Crossing said in a statement, released on Feb. 4. The company said Olofson went public with his criticisms of Global Crossing's accounting as a bargaining tool.
Before coming to Global Crossing, Olofson -- who lives in the Los Angeles suburb of La Canada Flintridge -- had stuck to more traditional industries.
He started as a manager at the accounting firm Price Waterhouse, specializing in audit and tax issues, moved from there to be a vice president of finance at Carter Hawley Hale Stores and, after 12 years there, moved to the discount retailer Fedco, where he spent 15 years and rose to chief executive.
Then, four years ago, with the Internet boom just under way, Olofson joined Global Crossing
"Most of his experience was in traditional, old-line industry, which report their earnings and costs the old-fashioned way," said Brian Lysaght, one of the lawyers representing Olofson in a wrongful-termination suit against Global Crossing.
Lysaght has been a spokesman for his client since word emerged late last month of a letter that Olofson wrote last August to Global Crossing's chief ethics officer. In the letter, he detailed what he termed deceptive accounting practices on the part of Global Crossing, its affiliate Asia Global Crossing and its auditor, Arthur Andersen.
According to his lawyers, Olofson shared his letter with the company's general counsel and chief ethics officer, James Gorton, who told him the matter would be examined, but the ethics officer resigned later that month. The lawyers say that as a result of his accusations, Olofson was ostracized and given no work. A former lawyer for Olofson notified the company at the time that his client would not return to work until the issues he raised had been investigated and changes implemented.
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