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American Morning

Interview With Former Director of Information Management at Enron

Aired July 10, 2002 - 07:16   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: Seventeen thousand WorldCom employees facing layoffs, and 4,000 former Enron employees are probably craving the taste of blood right now. Their bosses ran away with their livelihoods, and in some cases, their life savings. We wondered how they felt about President Bush's new stand on corporate responsibility.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: More scandals are hiding in corporate America. We must find and expose them now, so we can begin rebuilding the confidence of our people and the momentum of our markets.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZAHN: And joining us now from Houston is Tom Dendy, former director of information management at Enron. He is now a member of the Severed Enron Employees Coalition -- good of you to join us this morning -- welcome.

TOM DENDY, FORMER ENRON EMPLOYEE: Thank you -- good morning.

ZAHN: Was there anything you heard in the president's speech that you think would have prevented the outcome of what happened at Enron?

DENDY: I don't know if necessarily there was anything at this point that would have prevented the outcome. I mean, I think over the last several years and the prosperity that we have enjoyed in this country, there has been a lot of pressure for companies to perform and outperform each other. And I think as a result of that, companies kept pushing and pushing the envelope.

So I think this might have prevented it maybe seven or eight years ago, which is where -- this is the kind of stance that I think the White House should have been taking was seven or eight years ago, saying, OK, guys, let's be competitive, let's be innovative, but let's stay within bounds. At that time, you really didn't get the big message of corporate ethics coming down, and it really wasn't a focal point in America.

ZAHN: Tom, one of the things the president addressed yesterday is that dishonest bosses or crooked executives should lose all of the money they made by deceit. Let's talk about the man that formerly ran your company, Ken Lay, who by some accounts totaled some $100 million last year in salary, bonuses and loans. What should happen to him?

DENDY: Well, if you look at what he made, I honestly think a lot of that run-up of what he made I think was in equity that is now worthless. But quite frankly, if you look at an individual like Ken Lay, I don't think you can necessarily focus all of the blame on the guy at the top, because he had a whole entourage of people around him convincing him that, yes, this is OK. Yes, we are on the edge, but we're just inside the line. We're not outside the line.

So in a case like, you know, Ken Lay, for example, I don't think there is necessarily a deliberate deception, a deliberate intent to deceive and defraud individuals. So as far as what should be done with any of the wealth he accumulated during that time, you know, I can't say I have a strong stand on that. But I do think that since a lot of his wealth was tied up in equity in Enron, I think he has felt quite a bit of it already just in the class (ph) of the company.

ZAHN: Now that the president has joined the chorus of voices demanding more corporate responsibility, what is the best that you and your colleagues can hope for, as you watch this all play out?

DENDY: Well, this is going to be an interesting time quite frankly. I think we are about to weather a pretty big storm, because one way or another, a lot of companies are going to have to come clean. The analogy is I think it's kind of like steroid use in professional sports. It's a dirty little secret that goes on, and nobody really admits it goes on. Or if you want to compete, if everybody else is doing it, you're doing it. Well, the time comes that suddenly it comes out in the open, and people say this is no longer acceptable behavior.

So I think what's going to come now is more and more of these disclosures, where companies take their licks, take their hits, come clean, say, hey, yes, we have had some improprieties going on in our accounting in the last few years, and we are going to make it right. We are going to set things back on the right track.

But I think in doing that, what's going to happen is a lot of the rank-and-file employees are going to become sort of the hapless victims of this, when, for example, companies say, hey, I'm not making as much money as I said I was making. Now, I have to cut costs. I have to cut labor costs, lay off a lot of employees.

So as far as my view of my colleagues is I think the employees of these companies have to make sure they have a plan to ensure their own -- you know, these hiccups in their career are not ruining their lives or ruining their personal wealth. And they have a plan, a way of coming together and ensuring that they can move on to their next career or their next job, and at least get whatever they can, whatever is owed to them from their former employer.

ZAHN: Well, we appreciate your sharing some of your thoughts with us this morning. We mentioned that you lost your job, and like many of your colleagues, lost a lot of your savings tied up to Enron. And we wish you a lot of luck as you try to get your feet back on the ground there.

DENDY: Thank you -- thank you very much.

ZAHN: Tom Dendy joining us from Houston this morning.

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