Daniel Donovan, a former information manager at Volkswagen in Michigan, has filed a whistleblower claim against his former employer after allegedly finding that his coworkers fudged data in their emissions tests. Donovan believes his employment was terminated because his superiors predicted that Donovan would report the spoliation of evidence to the Department of Justice.
It was reported in Donovan’s pleading that in September 18, 2015, after the Environmental Protection Agency issued a notice of violation against Volkswagen, he wanted to preserve evidence of all data collected for the emissions test. Donovan claimed that he was overruled by his superiors and was told to continue deleting data for storage space issues. A Volkswagen spokesperson has completely dismissed Donovan’s allegations, stating that his employment was terminated for reasons unrelated to the emissions issue.
As of March 26, 2016, not only has the Department of Justice filed a suit, but the Federal Trade Commission filed an action against Volkswagen for deceptive advertising. Regardless of whether Donovan’s allegations are true or not, the nightmare for Volkswagen seems to be never-ending. Already with an allegation that Volkswagen had violated diesel emissions standards by cheating on the data, Volkswagen sales have been dropping, as has Volkswagen’s credibility.
If you or someone you know has owns a Volkswagen that may have been subject to these tests or recalls, contact an attorney at Abraham, Watkins, Nichols, Agosto, Aziz & Stogner by calling (713) 222-7211 or toll free at 713-222-7211.