Whistleblower should have been protected by Lehmans
MATTHEW Lee, the man who blew the whistle on controversial accounting techniques at Lehman Brothers, should have been protected by the bank’s code of ethics after notifying management of the “Repo 105” transactions.
Lee, who is in his 50s, was laid off from the collapsed bank after calling management’s attention to the transactions, which allowed the bank to transfer $50bn (£32.6bn) worth of debt off its balance sheet.
Lee, who has wanted to put the incident behind him, has not been able to find work since his June 2008 dismissal.
His lawyer Erwin Shustak said: “He should have been protected by the Lehman code of ethics. Being a whistle blower does not always work out great, it can make life difficult.”
It emerged yesterday that Lee has filed a claim against the bank for unpaid severance pay.