Ex-Exec’s Wal-Mart Suit Tossed
A Michigan state judge says a former Wal-Mart executive’s lawsuit was filed in the wrong state.
Julie Roehm should have filed her wrongful termination suit in Arkansas rather than Michigan, according to Judge Denise Langford Morris of Oakland County, who dismissed the suit. Roehm’s lawyer, B. Andrew Rifkin, told the Wall Street Journal (sub. req.) that no decision had been made on whether to refile in Arkansas.
Roehm, the company’s former advertising chief, had sued for breach of contract and fraud after her 2006 dismissal. Wal-Mart fired back with a countersuit that claimed Roehm had violated company policy by accepting freebies from suppliers and having an affair with a subordinate. Roehm denied the affair or any improprieties, and countered with her own allegations of misconduct by other Wal-Mart executives.
Roehm sounded like she was ready for a settlement in an interview with the Wall Street Journal. “It feels this has gone on for too long,” she said. “It makes all the sense in the world to resolve this in a way that doesn’t involve litigation.”
