Dive Brief:
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Walgreen Co.’s former CFO Wade Miquelon sued the retailer Thursday, saying his former employer defamed him in the press, particularly the Wall Street Journal, when it blamed him for a $1 billion forecasting error.
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In court documents filed in Illinois Circuit Court in Chicago, Miquelon says that CEO Gregory Wasson and director and major shareholder Stefano Pessina made "false and disparaging" comments about him in a series of Wall Street Journal stories on the matter. Miquelon also alleges that he tried to get Pessina and Walgreen to "publicly report the truth.”
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Some 25% to 30% of the prescriptions Walgreens sells are for Medicare Part D plans. The company didn’t account for drastic price increases for some generic drugs, leading to the dramatic error.
Dive Insight:
Miquelon left Walgreen Aug. 4 after six years at the company, and says he was in line to become CEO before this summer’s debacle. He’s seeking damages as well as public declarations that he wasn’t responsible for the error, wasn’t forced out of the company but left for personal reasons, and wants no further disparagement from his former employer.