Maynard Jenkins, the former chief executive who made headlines as the subject of a first-of-its kind clawback suit brought by the Securities and Exchange Commission, has come out swinging against the agency's "vicarious strict liability" interpretation of the statute as raising "serious constitutional issues."

Jenkins, the former CEO of auto parts retailer CSK Auto Corp., has filed a motion to dismiss the civil action filed against him by the SEC in July.

As previously reported, the Commission is seeking to recoup more than $4 million in bonuses and profits Jenkins received while the company was committing accounting fraud.

The SEC said Jenkins must return the proceeds since he was "captain of the ship and profited during the time that CSK was misleading investors about the company's financial health." CSK filed two restatements related to overstated vendor allowances while Jenkins was CEO. Earlier this year, the SEC charged four former CSK executives with securities fraud, and in May, it brought a settled enforcement action against CSK for filing false financial statements for fiscal years 2002 through 2004.

The case made headlines because it's the first in which the SEC is seeking to recoup compensation under Section 304 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act without accusing Jenkins himself of any misconduct. Since it was established in 2002, the SEC has brought a handful of actions under Section 304 in the context of executives accused of breaking other securities law while backdating stock options. The statute has been criticized for being too vague and too narrowly drafted.

The SEC is "attempting to impose a Draconian penalty on an admittedly innocent person," the filing states.

According to the motion, the Commission's interpretation of the statute in this case "departs starkly" from the SEC's own repeated interpretation and application of the statute and "stretches section 304 well beyond its boundaries."

The motion further alleges that, if adopted, the SEC's new interpretation of section 304 would "transform that statute into a punitive sanction imposed on those wholly innocent of wrongdoing."

Moreover, the filing contends that the SEC's complaint fails to allege any causal connection between CSK's accounting restatements and the bonus payments and stock proceeds the Commission seeks to have forfeited.

In an e-mail response, Jenkins' lawyer, John Spiegel of the firm Munger, Tolles & Olson, said no date has been set yet for the court to consider the motion.