E-mails, affairs and Wal-Mart

OK, so it doesn't have much to do with L.A. business, but Wal-Mart's countersuit against one of its former executives, Julie Roehm, would work well as one of those smarmy Lifetime TV movies (or maybe it could be a business-oriented reality show). In case you haven't been following this, here's a quick summary: Roehm and Sean Womack were recent arrivals in Wal-Mart's advertising and marketing department - Roehm a rising star, Womack less so - when, according to the retailer, they developed a romantic relationship, a big no-no in Bentonville. Well, Roehm strongly and publicly denied having had an affair with Womack (both were married at the time) and went on to sue Wal-Mart, claiming that the company had not given a valid reason for her firing and that it owed her money.

Wal-Mart said it had proof positive of not only the affair, but of efforts by the pair to be hired by the same ad agency they were considering for Wal-Mart work. Not great. But that's peanuts compared with the countersuit, which lays out a bunch of personal stuff that, frankly, most of us would not want to see in an open court filing. Which of course raises the question of why anyone having adulterous sex would want to communicate via e-mail - and then deny having had the affair. Here are a few passages from the suit:

As early as June 2006, it appears that Roehm and Womack had begun to alter their schedules to increase their time together. In one June email exchange, Roehm lamented "Sad that I can't have drinks with you Monday night..." In response, Womack typed "I'll try to come home early on the QT..." to which Roehm replied ":))))))"