Turing Pharmaceuticals Accused of Whistleblower Retaliation

• Posted on: Sep 22 2016

How has Turing managed to get into even more trouble after last year’s bombshell?

It is difficult to imagine Martin Shkreli (“Shkreli”) being shamed even more than he already has been, nor Turing Pharmaceuticals AG (“Turing”) having its reputation further blackened by more bad news. Nonetheless, this is exactly what’s happening. After last fall’s commotion surrounding pricing discrepancies, Nancy Retzlaff (“Retzlaff”), once looked at as the most likely candidate for CEO of the company, has now brought federal charges against Turing for retaliating against her after she testified in a case involving a sexual assault by one of Shkreli’s friends and a co-founder of the company — Edwin Urrutia.

When companies are involved in litigation and their reputations are on the line, the stakes can be very high. Executive positions, as well as the firm itself, can be at risk. Under such circumstances, it is imperative that the company brings in a business law firm of unchallenged competence to settle disputes, represent them vigorously in a court of law, and help them keep the business afloat and moving full-steam ahead through stormy waters. It is also important to hire attorneys able to understand and protect the rights of whistleblowers whose attempts to repair company defects are all too often met with retaliation.

The Background

Last February, Shkreli famously appeared smug and flippant during a Congressional investigation of his company’s astonishing pricing practices. Retzlaff, a highly valued member of the Turing team at the time, supported the company, explaining away the fiftyfold overnight increase in the price of the drug Daraprim, used for over 50 years to treat a deadly parasitic infection, by stating that it had previously been underpriced and that it had great value to the patients who required it. While not especially convincing, her defense was considered professional and well-articulated, particularly in contrast to Shkreli’s unseemly antics in the face of such serious charges.

Shkreli later stepped down as chief executive of Turing after being arrested on securities fraud and wire fraud charges in connection with his activities at hedge funds and another pharmaceutical company he founded. Turing also faces investigations by the New York attorney general and the Federal Trade Commission.

The Current Case

Retzlaff now claims that, while in Washington for a Congressional hearing on the inflated price case, Edwin Urrutia, Shkreli’s friend and the interim chief financial officer of Turing, made unwanted sexual advances to her, eventually assaulting her in a hotel bedroom. Retzlaff did not originally report the sexual assault because she feared, according to her lawyer, “reprisal, victim blaming, and being denied the C.E.O. position for which she was eminently qualified — all of which are now happening.”

When a co-worker made a strong complaint of unwanted sexual advances by the same man, however, Turing hired a private company to investigate the charges, and at that time Retzlaff spoke up. The investigation company substantiated the charges that Urrutia had made unwanted sexual advances to his accuser and had assaulted Retzlaff and other members of the staff. Urrutia, as a result, resigned from Turing “in lieu of termination.”

According to Retzlaff, before the assault and its aftermath, she had been a candidate for chief executive of the firm and had been promised restricted stock in the company. She charges that more recently she was told that she is no longer eligible for either. She also alleges that Shkreli had set a sexist and vulgar tone for the office with his own crude behavior, although he had left the company by the time her own sexual assault took place. Shkreli now states “I know she was made some promises, but she fell a little bit short of expectations.”

Tagged with: Whistleblower Representation