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ExxonMobil has been ordered to reinstate two scientists who were fired for leaking information to The Wall Street Journal, the U.S. Department of Labor said Friday.
The Labor Department’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration has ordered the oil and gas giant to pay more than $800,000 in back wages, interest and back wages to the two employees after a federal investigation into the driver illegally terminated the two computer scientists in late 2020.
An article in The Wall Street Journal last year said ExxonMobil may have inflated its production estimates and prices for oil and gas wells in Texas’ Permian Basin, where most of the U.S. production is located. Available. The story examines the company’s estimate in 2019 SEC filings that the pace of drilling will increase significantly over the next five years.
Exxon denied the allegations at the time and explained that it had reached its drilling target. An ExxonMobil spokesman said: “The claims made about the extent of drilling are flatly false.
The two employees, who have not been identified, raised concerns about the company’s use of these estimates in late 2020, the Labor Department said. Exxon said in a Labor Department statement that it fired a scientist for “mishandling proprietary company information.” There is another “Having a ‘negative attitude’, looking for other jobs, and losing confidence in company management.
In a statement to CNN Business, Exxon denied the allegations and said it would “defend itself accordingly.”
An ExxonMobil spokesperson said: “The outages in late 2020 They have nothing to do with the baseless concerns raised by the workers in 2019,” he said.
Although neither employee was identified as a source for the Journal’s story, OSHA said the company knew that one of the scientists was a relative of the source cited in the WSJ article and was aware of the leaked information.
“ExxonMobil’s actions are unacceptable. “The integrity of America’s financial system depends on companies accurately reporting their financial condition and assets,” said Assistant Secretary for Occupational Safety and Health Doug Parker.
