Former GC says McAfee used him as 'shield' to protect CEO

Former McAfee general counsel Kent Roberts is suing the software maker for defamation after claiming he was made a scapegoat for a federal investigation into stock option backdating, writes Corporate Counsel.

Roberts says as a result he has been unable to find another full-time job, even though he was acquitted of criminal backdating charges last year.

The suit, filed in federal district court in San Francisco, says that McAfee officials gave misleading information about Roberts to the US Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Roberts says the aim was to divert investigators' attention from the board of directors and former CEO George Samenuk. The campaign even had a name, according to the complaint - 'Project Shield.' Roberts is seeking unspecified damages.

"He was the human shield that the board of directors and CEO put between themselves and the Government, and he took the hit," said Hal Gillespie, a partner at Dallas firm Gillespie Rozen & Watsky, who is representing Roberts.

Roberts was the only McAfee employee indicted in the US Government's backdating probe, according to court documents. In October 2008 a jury acquitted him of mail fraud charges stemming from the Justice Department's investigation. Then in March 2009, the SEC dismissed its civil suit against Roberts.

"Nevertheless," Roberts' suit says, McAfee "continues to publicise false and defamatory allegations of Roberts's supposed 'improper' conduct relating to stock options with full knowledge of their falsity."

Roberts is the latest in-house lawyer to fight back against backdating accusations. Michael Ross, the former general counsel at San Jose-based Atmel, is waging a similar legal battle. Ross filed suit in July, claiming that the semiconductor maker ruined his reputation when it blamed him and others for stock option backdating in an April 2007 press release. The SEC closed its investigation into Atmel's options problems without suing Ross.

A federal judge this week also dismissed all charges brought by the SEC against Susan Skaer Tanner, the former general counsel of Mercury Interactive, for her alleged involvement in stock options backdating.

Corporate Counsel is a US sister title of Legal Week.

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