FCA Sales Chief Bigland Files Whistleblower Lawsuit

The head of U.S. sales for Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV claims in a whistleblower lawsuit that FCA docked his pay because he cooperated with a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission probe into the carmaker’s sales practices.

Reid Bigland, who has directed FCA sales in the region since 2011, says his compensation has been cut 90% since March and will cost him $1.8 million, Automotive News reports. Bigland’s lawsuit asserts that FCA intends to use the withheld funds to help pay for any SEC penalties or settlements.

Bigland testified at length about FCA’s sales practices, which long predate his appointment as sales chief. The SEC has focused on the company’s method of reporting monthly sales, which it suspects were manipulated to sustain a six-year run of consecutive year-on-year monthly sales gains.

In July 2016, FCA voluntarily changed its reporting rules and restated its monthly results for the previous five years. The new system showed that the company’s sales streak ended in 2013 rather than 2016.

Bigland’s lawsuit was filed in Michigan’s Oakland County Circuit Court, the district with includes FCA’s U.S. headquarters in Auburn Hills.