Now NetApp sued by its own veep over claims of broken sales commission promises

NetApp and its executive squad were sued connected Tuesday by a erstwhile income exec who claims nan endeavor storage-and-everything-else biz conspired to contradict contracted committee payments and discriminated against him.

The complaint [PDF] was revenge successful national tribunal successful San Jose, California, connected behalf of Neil McGowan, who served arsenic NetApp's Vice President and General Manager of American income from September 2017 until precocious August 2022 erstwhile his employment was terminated.

McGowan was hired pinch a net of $270,000 positive imaginable matching income commissions. This would person brought his compensation to $540,000 annually if he deed capacity targets, successful summation to immoderate merit-based based increases.

However, according to nan complaint, astir early May 2018, NetApp circulated its FY19 Incentive Compensation Plan Terms and Conditions and subsequently provided McGowan pinch his FY19 Goal Sheet that laid retired his net and committee scheme for nan fiscal year.

McGowan, it's claimed, saw from nan documents that nan IT supplier did not intend to salary each nan commissions owed and misrepresented what he and different income executives would beryllium paid.

"The misrepresentation/concealment existed because nether his FY19 committee plan, nan scheme obligated [McGowan] and different VP/GMs to waste a definite dollar percent of merchandise but nan customer relationship statement see a customer discount which reduced nan income amount, and therefore, intrinsically diminished nan commissions [McGowan] and different VPs could earn," nan title says. "As written, [McGowan] and different VPs would ne'er gain nan inducement committee arsenic promised."

In effect, nan scheme paid customer discounts from income commissions.

McGowan, it's claimed, went to his head who raised nan rumor pinch his superior and some acknowledged that nan scheme diminished nan committee payments for staff. They nevertheless urged McGowan to motion nan agreement, telling him, "[i]f we alteration it for you, we will person to alteration it for each different VP/GMs."

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According to nan complaint, McGowan refused to motion and his managers retaliated, denying him and different VPs their earned commissions for August 2018 though August 2019 period. It further alleges that institution executives "misrepresented NetApp's regulatory filings to nan SEC concerning its expenses and obligations regarding nan 15 period period."

NetApp, successful its Form 10-K for nan fiscal twelvemonth that ended April 28, 2023, notes that a securities people action suit was revenge against nan institution and executive officers connected August 14, 2019.

"The title alleged that nan defendants violated Section 10(b) and 20(a) of nan Securities Exchange Act of 1934, arsenic amended, and SEC Rule 10b-5, by making materially mendacious aliases misleading statements pinch respect to our financial guidance for fiscal 2020, arsenic provided connected May 22, 2019, and further alleged unspecified damages based connected nan diminution successful nan marketplace value of our shares pursuing nan issuance of nan revised guidance connected August 1, 2019," nan NetApp financial filing says.

NetApp agreed to settee that declare for astir $2 cardinal and nan tribunal proceeding nan lawsuit approved nan woody connected September 1, 2022.

McGowan's ineligible filing cites a May 23, 2019 email from his head arsenic grounds of a company-wide scheme to shortchange unit by capping income commissions. The email, sent to much than 300 employees, announced that NetApp was invoking nan committee plan's "windfall" proviso and would not salary "further committee supra 200 percent extremity attainment" based connected FY19 sales.

Claims of capped aliases withheld income commissions are relatively common successful nan IT industry.

In consequence to objections by McGowan and different affected income staff, NetApp allegedly agreed to salary nan commissions, but successful nan shape of retention bonuses dispersed retired complete respective years. Employees who near earlier past would not beryllium paid.

The ineligible filing goes connected to picture really McGowan's managers reorganized his accounts and income teams, but nan organizational changes and nan underpaid commissions, indicating this contributed to precocious turnover.

"Defendants represented to nan wide nationalist that these changes to nan data-centric package leader’s income statement were to amended meet customer needs and powerfulness nan company’s adjacent shape of growth," nan title says. "However, not each changes were proactive, but rather, were by dissension of nan income squad because of management’s ongoing misrepresentations regarding afloat costs of earned commissions."

In FY22, nan title says, NetApp's bookings exceeded $1.5 billion, 27 percent of which was attributable to McGowan's work. Yet he was terminated connected August 23, 2022.

The suit contends that NetApp and its executive squad conspired to contradict commissions, successful usurpation of laws connected racketeering, contracts, fraud, labor, and worker rights. McGowan, who is an African American, besides accuses nan IT supplier of racially discriminating against him.

The Register understands that this suit whitethorn beryllium expanded astatine a later day if different NetApp income unit take to activity redress.

NetApp declined to comment. ®