Volkswagen is now facing a whistleblower lawsuit filed by an ex-employee. The dismissed VW employee alleges the German automaker of destroying evidence and obstruction of justice while the diesel emission investigation is ongoing.
The former employee was part of the VW group of America and had worked in the information technology department since 2008. Daniel Donovan filed the VW's whistleblower lawsuit in Oakland County Circuit Court in Michigan last week. According to Donovan's court papers, he was dismissed in December after he refused to join in a course of action that would destroy evidence and obstruct justice, Reuters reports. He claimed that he was fired from his job because the company knew that he's going to report the incident to federal officials.
The "circumstances of Mr. Donovan's departure were unrelated to the diesel emissions issue. We believe his claim of wrongful termination is without merit," VW spokeswoman Jeannine Ginivan said in a statement on Monday.
In the VW's whistleblower lawsuit, Donovan detailed that the company fired him after he failed to comply on destroying evidences while the Justice Department and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) are investigating on the fraud emission software. According To LA Times, the information technology department continuously deleted files until Sept. 21. Donovan also said that the department is not keeping backup disks. It has not been revealed if the ex-employee reported the incident to the FBI.
Donovan worked as VW group of America's Electronic Discovery Manager. In his VW's whistleblower lawsuit, he claimed that the company violated the Michigan Whistleblowers' Protection Act, Jalopnik reported. The German automaker has faced violations of $20 billion in the U.S. It is also in the midst of facing hundreds of class-action lawsuits over the fake emission software installed in the VW diesel cars.
As of this late, the VW's whistleblower lawsuit follows the controversial stepping down of VW's U.S. President and Chief Executive Michael Horn last week. Donovan nor his attorney Sam Morgan, would not comment regarding the lawsuit.
