Wal-Mart sues former vice-chairman

SUPERMARKET giant Wal-Mart is suing its former vice-chairman Tom Coughlin, one of the leading Irish American businessmen, for allegedly abusing his expense account.

Mr Coughlin, a second generation Irish American, is accused of a five-year $500,000 spending spree, splashing out on underwear, food for his pets and Celine Dion CDs. Wal-Mart, the world’s biggest company by turnover, is seeking $5 million in compensation from Mr Coughlin - who earned three times that amount over two years.

A 124-page lawsuit filed in the US court said Mr Coughlin, 57, and “a group of carefully loyal subordinates” misappropriated “hundreds of thousands of dollars and property for his personal benefit.”

The suit said he misused a Wal-Mart gift card to buy watches, alcohol, a karaoke machine, underwear, airline tickets, boots, a digital radio, three shotguns and a top-of-the-range jeep.

Mr Coughlin left the company earlier this year after 27 years. In June, Wal-Mart demanded Mr Coughlin give up all his retirement benefits, worth some $25 million, and it froze some of the funds due to him under his contract claiming he engaged in “gross misconduct.”

Legal representatives for Mr Coughlin said he denies the allegations and intends to defend the action. They claimed the suit was “another step in its relentless campaign to discredit a man who dedicated his life to the company and its employees for 27 years”.

“Wal-Mart has used its unlimited resources to mount an attack on Mr Coughlin while denying him any meaningful opportunity to defend himself.”

It also emerged that for a number of years Mr Coughlin was responsible for investigating employee theft and abuse at Wal-Mart. In 2003, Mr Coughlin was honoured with the Ireland-US Council Award for outstanding achievement in New York.