By Mike Scarcella
WASHINGTON: A former senior AT&T lawyer who said he raised concerns about the company’s compliance with a school discount program has been accused by an attorney disciplinary office of violating ethics rules by sharing information with a whistleblower suing the telecom giant.
The District of Columbia Office of Disciplinary Counsel, which enforces professional rules for attorneys licensed in Washington, said in an allegations filing disclosed on Monday that attorney Theodore Marcus disclosed confidential information to a plaintiff pursuing claims against AT&T in federal courts in Washington and Wisconsin.
Marcus, who has been licensed to practice law in Washington since 1993, “intentionally prejudiced or damaged AT&T while serving as in-house counsel” by providing information to the plaintiff, the office said. He is also accused of violating a rule governing attorney conflicts of interest.
Marcus and the head of the Office of Disciplinary Counsel, Phil Fox, declined to comment. AT&T, which is not a party to the proceeding, had no immediate comment.
Marcus resigned from AT&T in 2011 and later joined the Federal Communications Commission, according to Fox’s office. An FCC organizational chart lists him as a legal advisor. The agency did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Marcus joined BellSouth in 2000 as a senior compliance counsel and became an in-house lawyer at AT&T after its 2006 merger with the company. He led an AT&T committee advising on compliance with a FCC program that requires participating telecommunications providers to offer discounted internet access to eligible schools and libraries. Fox’s office said Marcus began communicating with the whistleblower’s lawyers in 2011 after receiving an unfavorable performance review with lawyers representing a whistleblower who accused AT&T of fraud tied to reimbursements under the program.
The whistleblower’s lawsuits are pending in Wisconsin and Washington federal courts. AT&T has denied any wrongdoing.
In 2011, Marcus told AT&T superiors he believed the company had made false statements to federal prosecutors about its compliance with the program. Fox’s office said AT&T hired an outside law firm to investigate and found no illegal or unethical conduct.
AT&T learned of Marcus’ disclosures in 2017 from a lawyer involved in the whistleblower litigation, Fox’s office said.
In the Washington lawsuit, Marcus testified that when he left AT&T he tried to contact the U.S. Justice Department to report alleged wrongdoing but was rebuffed over concerns about legal privilege.
