A federal jury in California this week ordered Playboy Enterprises to pay $6 million to a whistleblower arising from violations of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. The jury award is believed to be the largest ever imposed for whistleblower violations under the Act.

The U.S. District Court for the Central District of California on March 5 found that Catherine Zulfer, former corporate controller at Playboy, was unlawfully terminated in retaliation for “reporting to company management actual and suspected frauds and improprieties involving financial and accounting matters and corporate governance,” according to the complaint.

Specifically, Zulfer claimed she was fired after refusing to prepare $1 million in bonuses for top executives at the request of Chief Financial Officer Christoph Pachler without proper approval from Playboy's board of directors.

After reporting the suspected conduct, Zulfer claimed she was retaliated against by being excluded from meetings and discussions that directly impacted her job responsibilities, and was withheld from receiving crucial information necessary to carry out her corporate accounting responsibilities. In addition, she claimed 15 people were eliminated from the accounting staff, forcing Zulfer to assume these responsibilities.

In addition, Zulfer also accused Playboy of age discrimination, claiming Playboy terminated her from her job because of her age. She was 56 at the time of her termination in 2012.

The case will now continue to the punitive damages phase to determine if Playboy Enterprises will face further penalties for punitive damages.

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