Ethics Newsline®

VARIOUS DATELINES
Three of the world’s largest retail chains made ethics news last week. Among the stories:

• The Reuters news agency reports that a fired Wal-Mart executive is accusing the CEO of the store chain of violating company ethics policy by accepting discounts and gifts from vendors and others. Former marketing communications chief Julie Roehm has sued Wal-Mart for breach of contract and Wal-Mart, in turn, has sued her on charges of taking improper gifts and misusing company funds. In the latest court filing, Roehm accused Wal-Mart chief executive H. Lee Scott of receiving gifts and discounts from an executive who does business with the store chain, and said other executives have accepted gifts from vendors, according to Reuters. Wal-Mart denies the claims.
• Home Depot, whose former CEO often was cited as an example of executive compensation wildly out of sync with company performance, adopted a new look at its annual shareholders meeting last week, according to a report from the New York Times. In contrast to the last meeting chaired by Robert Nardelli, in which the now-deposed company head refused to answer questions about his salary — or any other shareholder questions, for that matter — the new CEO, Frank Blake, spent over an hour talking business and taking questions. Shareholders applauded Blake’s pay package, reports the Times, because it is tied to the company’s performance and his salary, while a hefty $8.9 million, is about a quarter of what Nardelli was taking.
• Coles Group, a giant retailer headquartered in Australia, has adopted an ethical sourcing code that it says will protect workers who supply the chain’s footwear and apparel. The Australian Age reports that Coles’ policy mainly focuses on China and spells out 92 different criteria, including workplace safety and living conditions of factory workers.