Scandal on Aisle 5
Read all about it: pink diamonds, preferential treatment and a love affair.
June 7, 2007 — -- Did Wal-Mart's CEO, Lee Scott, receive a pink diamond and boats at discount price?
Was the hiring of Scott's son by a Minnesota businessman a violation of the retailer's stringent ethics code?
Did a fired Wal-Mart executive who has made these claims carry on an illicit affair with a subordinate while feasting on fine food and drink at a swanky New York restaurant hosted by a company seeking business with Wal-Mart?
These are all questions being posed in a series of lawsuits and countersuits in what is quickly turning into a distracting sideshow for the world's largest retailer.
So far, there are two suits and counting.
The latest legal shot came last week when Irwin Jacobs, the Minnesota businessman alleged to have arranged discounts on the diamond and the boats for Scott, sued those who had made the allegations, saying that he had been defamed.
Jacobs told ABC News that those who had made the allegations "are going to pay the price for it."
"The fact that I even have to answer [questions] is an embarrassment and outrageous to me," Jacobs said.
What can now be described as a soap opera started in December when Wal-Mart suddenly fired Julie Roehm who had been the senior vice president for marketing communications. Roehm had been hired to shake up and revitalize the company's advertising and during her short, 10-month tenure oversaw the selection of a new advertising agency, the firm Draft FCB.
At the time of her firing, the company also terminated her colleague Sean Womack, canceled the contract with Draft FCB and awarded the reportedly $580 million account to the Martin Agency, based in Richmond, Va.
Wal-Mart gave no official explanation for the firings at the time, but reports surfaced that Roehm was having an affair with Womack, a subordinate, in addition to accepting free meals and drinks from Draft FCB.
Roehm sued Wal-Mart in January for wrongful termination and breach of contract.
Wal-Mart quickly fired back. The retailer alleged that Roehm and Womack, both of whom are married, were romantically involved. To support its claim, Wal-Mart presented an e-mail it had obtained from Womack's wife.
In the e-mail, purportedly from Roehm to Womack, Roehm wrote, "I think about us together all the time. Little moments like watching your face when you kiss me."
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