Three Hayes Microcomputer Products Inc executives sued by the company have filed claims for more than $40m in the bankruptcy court, charging Dennis Hayes with libel and fraud. Gary Franza, vice-president of sales, and John Stuckey, vice-president of product management, were fired by Atlanta-based Hayes last week and have been sued by the company. The third party in the suits is Mikhail Drabkin, vice-president for engineering, who resigned in January and left March 1. The libel claim centers around electronic mail that Hayes allegedly sent to the roughly 1,000 company employees explaining that Stuckey and Stanza had been fired for cause, which has legal implications. Stuckey and Franza are each seeking $5m in damages in the libel claim. The three former officials are also seeking damages for fraud for Hayes’ dealings related to their stock options. Stanza said he was not particularly surprised by Hayes’ actions and that the company has had a track record of settling disputes through litigation. It is currently unclear whether the afore-mentioned officials are the same employees who requested that Dennis Hayes should be required to stay out of the day-to-day running of the company, during a recent court case.
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