The Scoop
L3Harris CEO Chris Kubasik was ousted by his board after an independent probe found he engaged in an inappropriate relationship with an employee, according to two people briefed on the probe.
The probe was conducted by the $54 billion defense contractor’s outside law firm, and wrapped up in recent days, the people said.
Kubasik was previously in line to take over as CEO of Lockheed Martin, before he was fired over a similar incident, involving a “personal relationship with a subordinate employee,” in 2012, Lockheed said at the time. He took a job at L3 Corporation, another defense contractor, in 2015, before becoming CEO in 2018. There he helped engineer the merger between L3 and Harris Corporation to create L3Harris, and became CEO of the combined company in 2021.
“The company became aware of certain conduct by Kubasik that was not consistent with the values of the company as outlined in its code of conduct,” L3Harris said in a press release Monday, without specifying what that conduct was. Spokespeople from L3Harris did not return requests for comment. Kubasik did not return a message seeking comment.
The company’s shares fell 3% on the news.
Notable
- Kubasik will get to keep part of his pay package, which can be unusual for CEOs under these circumstances. McDonald’s CEO Steve Easterbrook had his pay package clawed back after the company found he had withheld information about a relationship with a subordinate.