A former S.C. Johnson & Son Inc. employee was ordered by a judge to pay the Racine company $50,000 in damages Wednesday and turn over company documents.
Michael DeGuelle was ordered by Judge Charles Constantine to sign an affidavit swearing he no longer has possession of any confidential SC Johnson documents.
Immediately after the civil trial judgment was rendered, DeGuelle said, "Judge Constantine is either utterly incompetent or in the pocket of SC Johnson," according to the Racine Journal Times. DeGuelle said he plans to appeal the judgment.
DeGuelle, who worked in the company’s tax department for 12 years, accused S.C. Johnson in 2009 of tax fraud, which led to a lawsuit by the company. DeGuelle later countersued the company, but all claims made by DeGuelle were dismissed in an earlier ruling.
Following the judge’s decision, S.C. Johnson spokeswoman Kelly Semrau said, "We needed to protect the hard-earned reputation of SC Johnson, as integrity and a high ethical standard are part of our core values on how we operate.”
Semrau said the company will donate the $50,000 DeGuelle has been ordered to pay to the Health Care Network, a nonprofit agency that provides free or low cost health care to residents of Racine County in need.
