This is one corporate restructuring that's far from amicable. In a departure from the usual bland language that follows high-profile corporate exits, beleaguered American telecom major Motorola has described a former executive who sued the company for terminating him as a "treacherous officer."

Former CFO Paul Liska was fired for "serious misconduct and incompetence" and he planned a "scheme designed to portray himself as a whistleblower and demand millions in return for his silence," Motorola said in documents obtained by the Chicago Tribune and posted Thursday on its Web site.

Earlier, Liska said he was fired for warning company officials the 2009 business plan for its mobile devices unit was based on "unsubstantiated and misleading financial forecasts." He "had been sounding increasingly urgent warnings to others in the company," including co-CEO Greg Brown, that the mobile unit - responsible for 40 per cent of the company's 2008 revenues - had no viable business plan as of mid-January, he claimed in his lawsuit.

Liska believed the mobile unit's lack of a 2009 business plan "was likely to lead to the continued deterioration of Motorola's credit and ... to the possible ruin of the entire company," the lawsuit said.

Liska was fired on 2 February, the day after he took his concerns to the Motorola board's audit committee, the lawsuit said. He contends that co-CEO Sanjay Jha, who also heads the mobile devices unit, refused to meet him. Motorola is under "enormous pressure" to position the mobile business as a spin-off, with Jha at its helm, the lawsuit said. Jha was the highest-paid CEO in the country last year.

In the complaint, Liska alleges "retaliatory discharge," legalese for a whistleblower lawsuit, saying his firing "violated mandated policy that favours full disclosure, truthfulness and accuracy in financial reports." The lawsuit also alleges a breach of contract; Liska, who had been hired in March 2008, says he has not received the severance pay he is owed. Liska is demanding a jury trial.

In February, North America's largest maker of telecommunications equipment posted a massive fourth-quarter loss as it recorded charges to reflect the shrinking value of its cell phone business. It also suspended its dividend, said CFO Paul Liska had left and gave a disappointing forecast for the fiscal first quarter. (See: Motorola skips dividend amid $3.6 billion loss)

Faced with plunging cell phone revenue, the company had hatched a plan last year to spin off its Mobile Devices business, but persistent losses caused it to postpone that move. (See: Motorola to split into two companies – mobile devices, and broadband and mobility solutions)

When it reported fourth-quarter earnings back in February, Motorola gave no specific reason for Liska's departure, but co-CEO Greg Brown implied that it was connected to the delay of the phone spin-off. He said at the time that changes in the "business environment" made a change at the CFO post appropriate as well.