The San Jose point of sale terminal maker VeriFone Holdings Inc. said it fired William G. Atkinson, its executive vice president for payment systems, for trying to get coworkers to join a rival.
The decision to fire Mr. Atkinson was "based on information discovered by management" that he had violated his executive stock agreement by "soliciting VeriFone employees to join a competitor," the company said Wednesday.
VeriFone did not name the competitor, but it did say it was not certain whether Mr. Atkinson "will be successful in joining a competitor."
His duties have been reassigned, VeriFone said, and it does not anticipate any disruption to its business from the incident.
Mr. Atkinson was one of several executives who sold VeriFone shares last week under prearranged trading plans.
According to a filing last week with the Securities and Exchange Commission, he sold 4,000 shares of common stock at prices ranging from $36.07 to $36.75.
Other VeriFone executives who sold blocks of stock or exercised options last week include Douglas Bergeron, its chairman and chief executive, and Barry Zwarenstein, its chief financial officer.
