Lotus officials in Paris and London were not immediately available to comment on a news report that says Lotus' president, Jeffrey Papows, has been named in a sex-bias case.
Today's news comes on the heels of last month's Wall Street Journal report that claimed Papows lied about his personal history and embellished his military record when talking to business prospects.
According to the Wall Street Journal, former Lotus executive Arlene Greene has filed a claim in Lotus' home state of Massachusetts alleging that she and other female managers were singled out treated in an ill manner by Papows and his longtime executive assistant, Sharon Ricci.
The claim was filed last month with the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination. The claim alleges that Papows and Ricci have had a long-term intimate relationship that has benefited Ricci. According to the Journal Ricci collaborated with Papows against other high-ranking Lotus females.
The 52-year-old Greene was fired in October after 11 years at Lotus, according to the report, allegedly because of workplace bias-rather than a general reduction in staff as was claimed at the time.
Papows and Ricci have worked together at four companies over some 15 years, the Journal said. Their working relationship has caused trouble before-such as in 1992 when the former CEO of Cognos Michael Potter ordered Papows (who was then president of Cognos) not to bring Ricci on any more business trips.
A Paris-based spokesman at IBM, Lotus' parent company, declined to comment and referred calls back to Lotus.
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