A CFO extortionist or a whistleblower?

Paul Liska, the ex-CFO of Motorola, has sued the firm for $1.5 million in severance pay plus punitive damages. He claims he was essentially, fired for not signing off on "unsubstantiated and misleading financial forecasts." Specifically, he says he appeared before the audit committee last year and "criticized the ability of the mobile-devices unit, which brought in about 40% of the company's 2008 revenues, to accurately predict consumer sales," according to CFO.com. He was let go a day later.

The company claims the decision to fire him predated the meeting. It had some harsh word as well. "During his brief tenure, he proved himself to be erratic, unprepared, abrasive, divisive--and often simply absent and 'unavailable,'" Motorola claimed, apparently quoting Liska's administrative assistant. He also called for a meeting in which he allegedly tried to "extort" money from the company. This looks pretty ugly anyway you look at it.    

For more:
- here's the article

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