FOR BLOWING THE WHISTLE ON GREED

sherron

   watkins

It was a year of corporate scandals and the women who tried to stop them.  And no female whistle-blower has been more influential in 2002 than 43-year old Enron executive Sherron Watkins.  Long before her company’s collapse into bankruptcy, Watkins sent a no-punches-pulled memo to her boss, CEO Kenneth Lay, detailing her concerns about the energy giant’s accounting practices.  “I am incredibly nervous that we will implode in a wave of accounting scandals,” she wrote.  In February, Watkins testified about her memo before Congress.  Partly as a result of her frank testimony, accounting firm Arthur Andersen was found guilty of obstruction of justice this summer, and former Enron CFO Andrew Fastow was charged with money laundering and fraud.

“Sherron Watkins put herself on the line,” says Senator Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.).  “Anyone who’s willing to say, ‘Look, whatever happens to me isn’t as important as getting to the truth’ -- that person is a hero.” 

Watkins, who’s working on a book about the scandal (Power Failure), is still saddened by it.  “These men had fantastic degrees, wonderful families, high-six-figure salaries,” she says.  “What made them think they needed more?  All this has taught me to pay attention to the value system at the top - to pay attention to values, period.”    -- SHEILA WELLER

GLAMOUR DECEMBER 2002

JONATHAN SKOW; STYLIST: DEBORA FRANCIS; PROP STYLIST: NICK TORTORICI FOR ART MIX; HAIR AND MAKEUP: KENDRA RICHARDS FOR CLOUTIER. DKNY CLOTHING