Daniel Donovan worked as a technical project manager at Volkswagen Group of America's data processing centre in Michigan and claims that he was let go last December after informing superiors, including the company’s in-house lawyers, that data was being deleted. He sued the company in state court last week, alleging wrongful termination and violation of the Michigan Whistleblowers' Protection Act.

In his complaint, Mr Donovan said that on 18 September he received an order from his immediate supervisor to ‘stop deleting data effective immediately pursuant to a Department of Justice hold.’ But he claims that he was brushed off when he relayed that message to the IT manager and that data continued to be deleted for another three days. He added that additional backup disks were destroyed afterward and that an independent investigation by an accounting firm was thwarted due to evidence not being provided.

A VW spokesperson told Bloomberg that the circumstances of Mr Donovan’s departure were ‘unrelated to the diesel emissions issue.’ Sources: Bloomberg BNA; Reuters; Courthouse News Service