Dow employee ‘sacked for revealing fraud’

A FORMER Dow Chemicals employee is to pursue a claim that she was fired for allegedly finding financial irregularities.

Andrew Liveris. Picture: Nick Cubbin

A US court has given the go-ahead for a former Dow Chemicals employee to pursue a claim that she was fired for allegedly finding financial irregularities, including personal expenses for chief executive Andrew Liveris and payments to a charity linked to Mr Liveris.

The Michigan District Court this week rejected Dow’s attempts to dismiss the claims by Kimberly Wood. Ms Wood was a former fraud investigator with Dow, a position she held from 2001 until her employment was terminated in October 2013.

Mr Liveris is one of the highest-profile Australians in international business circles.

In legal filings obtained by The Australian, Ms Wood claims she was fired after telling her supervisor she found “financial statement fraud” in an ethylene plant project. Her previous reports had questioned personal spending by Mr Liveris.

A report by Ms Wood said Mr Liveris had $US719,000 ($877,840) worth of unreported personal expenses, which led to the funds being reimbursed to Dow. This included a paid holiday for Mr Liveris and his family to attend a safari in Africa, as well as $US218,900 of expenses for a trip to the 2010 Super Bowl and the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. Dow previously disclosed the repayments in a 2011 regulatory filing. Also in focus are claims Dow had directed funds into The Hellenic Initiative, a charity co-founded by Mr Liveris.

Ms Wood claims her supervisor responded to the investigation into the charity by telling her in December 2012 that “nothing from the CEO’s past was to be looked at again”.

Her final investigation alleged Dow managers improperly “moved expenses to capital to hide cost overruns” at the Olefins 2 ethylene project.

A day after she reported her findings on the Olefins project she was told “her employment would end on October 31”, according to the complaint filed with the court.

A Dow spokeswoman said Ms Wood was a disgruntled employee making false allegations in retaliation for the company’s denial of unearned benefits.

Additional reporting: agencies