May 23, 2003 3 min read

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) – A Duke Power Co. accountant has filed a $2.5 million lawsuit against the company, charging the utility retaliated against him for tipping off regulators to allegedly improper accounting changes. Barron Stone asked for a jury trial in the lawsuit filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Charlotte, claiming the company demoted and harassed him and broke an agreement with him.

In 2001, Stone called South Carolina regulators and Duke’s ethics hot line to report that Duke made improper accounting changes to avoid cutting power rates paid by consumers.

In March, the U.S. Labor Department rejected his claims, ruling there was either insufficient evidence of retaliation or that Duke’s actions preceded federal whistleblower protections that went into effect last summer.

Duke said it feels the Labor Department reached a logical conclusion.

Stone challenged the ruling by going to federal court.

“(Duke has) tried to make it tough for me,” said Stone, who still works at the utility’s Charlotte-based parent, Duke Energy Corp. “I have to extend a strong will, and I’m going to be here. We’re not going away.”

Stone’s questions triggered an audit initiated by North Carolina and South Carolina regulators. Both states agreed to a $25 million settlement with Duke after determining it had underreported profits by $124 million between 1998 and 2000.

A federal grand jury is investigating Duke Power’s accounting practices.

Duke Power, which has 2 million customers in the Carolinas, has denied intentional wrongdoing. The company said an accounting firm it hired disagreed with the independent auditor’s findings, but admitted it failed to adequately explain significant changes to its accounting practices.

Stone had to endure a harassing five-and-a-half hour “interrogation” by Duke attorneys without a break, he said in the lawsuit.

Duke also transferred him to a job against his will, forcing him out of the forecasting department, which dealt with classified information, according to the lawsuit. Stone said he lost his office and was moved to a cubicle.

He also accused Duke of backing out of a $2.5 million settlement, which the suit says the two brokered in late 2002. Under the settlement, Stone claims, he would have promised to stop talking to the media.

Duke spokesman Tom Williams said Wednesday there was no formal offer of $2.5 million.

Williams said Stone’s transfer was a lateral move and part of a restructuring that moved 13 people.

Shares of Duke rose 55 cents, or 3 percent, to $17.77 in afternoon trading on the New York Stock Exchange.

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