Nissan installed cameras to monitor executive’s home

Contentious relationships among board members can create a lot of problems. Former Nissan COO Ashwani Gupta, who had been seen as a possible successor to CEO Makoto Uchida, and also had of allegations of harassment against him. He was asked to step down as COO. Gupta was also seen as an obstacle to a new agreement between Nissan and Renault. Apparently electronic surveillance against Gupta was initiated.

Motor1.com reported: Nissan is investigating allegations that CEO Makoto Uchida conducted surveillance on Ashwani Gupta, the automaker’s departing Chief Operating Officer. According to Hari Nada, a senior adviser for Nissan, the surveillance was an attempt to gain leverage and remove Gupta, who Uchida perceived as an obstacle to reaching a new agreement with Renault.

Reuters reported that Nissan Motors installed a camera surveillance system at the home of former executive Ashwani Gupta so the automaker’s internal security team could monitor him, according to the preliminary findings of an investigation into the surveillance.

Nissan has been investigating a claim that Chief Executive Makoto Uchida carried out surveillance of the carmaker’s second- in-command to acquire leverage to remove him from the company because of Gupta’s opposition to some terms in a new partnership deal with Renault.

The preliminary report said Nissan had installed two sets of security cameras at the entrance to Gupta’s house. It said the first system was for use by a private security firm while the second system was set up for access by Nissan’s internal security team to monitor Gupta.

Under Japanese law, a company can monitor communications on corporate phones and computers and investigate an employee’s conduct outside work in protecting its business interests, said Akira Takeuchi, a lawyer and certified fraud examiner in Tokyo, emphasizing he was speaking in general and not about Nissan.

[Read more: Reuters]

[Read more: Motor1.com]

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