Playboy Exec Refuses To OK Bonus, Gets Fired, Wins $6 Million

A senior vice president at Playboy Enterprises Inc. refused the CFO’s order to set aside $1 million for bonuses, most of which was earmarked for the CFO and the CEO, on the grounds that it had not been approved by the board. She then told the GC and outside counsel she thought that there had been an attempt to circumvent internal accounting rules mandated by the SEC – whereupon, she says, she was fired. When she filed suit under Section 806 of Sarbanes-Oxley, the jury awarded her $6 million. This may be the largest ever award under Section 806, and according to Proskauer Rose attorneys Steven J. Pearlman, Harris Mufson and Rachel Fischer, it could presage a spike in whistleblower retaliation claims.