Motorola's ex-CFO: Files aren't destroyed; I still have them

Paul Liska, former chief financial officer of Motorola Inc., told an Illinois judge that he still has computer files the company accused him of destroying after his February dismissal from the mobile phone maker.

The company asked Cook County Circuit Court Judge Allen Goldberg in an April 15 filing to consider punishing Liska for allegedly deleting potential evidence before he returned a company-owned laptop to Motorola after his ouster.

"The only thing Motorola has been denied is unfettered access to Mr. Liska's personal investment accounts and passwords that have no relevance to this suit," his lawyers said in an April 27 court filing that opposes the company's request.

In a sealed Illinois state court complaint filed Feb. 20, Liska claimed he was fired by Motorola after a Jan. 28 meeting with members of the company's board at which he questioned financial projections for the company's mobile-devices unit. He is seeking at least $50,000 in damages.

Motorola announced Liska's departure in a Feb. 3 statement without saying why he left. In court documents, the Schaumburg-based company said the executive was dismissed for "his extortionate scheme to enrich himself."

On April 15, the company asked Goldberg for an order directing Liska to testify about what company records he still has, who he has shared that data with and what, if anything, he's destroyed. The judge should then decide what punishment is appropriate, Motorola's attorneys said in the filing.

Reached yesterday by phone, Liska lawyer Sean Crotty of Chicago's Coleman Law Firm declined to discuss the dispute.

Goldberg is scheduled today to hear arguments on Motorola's request. The judge unsealed parts of the complaint on April 9.

The case is Liska v. Motorola Inc., 09L2079, Cook County, Illinois, Circuit Court, Law Division (Chicago).