RACINE - The former employee SC Johnson has accused of trying to blackmail the company has countersued, saying supervisors forced him to break the law.

SCJ filed a lawsuit against Michael J. DeGuelle on April 28. The suit says DeGuelle inappropriately took confidential business documents and disclosed their contents to people outside the company. SCJ also accused him of defamation, for statements made to The Journal Times after the suit was filed.

DeGuelle filed his answer to the civil suit on Friday, denying SCJ's allegations, and laying out his complaints with the company. He worked in SCJ's tax department from Jan. 2, 1997 to April 10, 2009, when he was fired.

DeGuelle's countersuit accuses SCJ of breach of contract and wrongful termination for firing him for reporting "unlawful and unethical conduct" with the federal government, against company policy.

He is asking the court to dismiss SCJ's complaint and to order the company to pay him back wages and benefits, consequential damages, compensatory and punitive damages, plus attorney fees, costs and disbursements.

According to documents filed Friday, DeGuelle discovered the IRS overstated foreign taxes paid by SCJ, resulting in an "unwarranted foreign tax credit" of $5.1 million.

DeGuelle says he asked his supervisor how they should fix it, but that his supervisor concealed the errors, refused to allow DeGuelle to report the errors himself and forced DeGuelle to alter documents to conceal the credits. Despite a company policy saying employees will not be retaliated against if they report violations of the law or company policy, DeGuelle says that's what happened to him.

In December 2007 he heard a "compelling speech" by Fisk Johnson, CEO of SCJ, in which he told employees "let me emphasize that my family genuinely wants you to do the right thing. The thing that is ethical. The thing that is responsible. The thing that carries on the values the company represents." The speech "inspired" DeGuelle to report the unlawful conduct in the tax department, he said.

After that, DeGuelle claims, his supervisor became "increasingly combative and confrontational" and began to falsely accuse him of performance issues.

DeGuelle claims he sent an e-mail directly to Fisk Johnson, mentioning the speech, and was told by a company vice president that the matter was closed. Another company official told him the company looked into the matter and found nothing "illegal or fraudulent."

SCJ could not be reached for comment Friday night, but a company spokeswoman has previously said DeGuelle's allegations are "completely and patently false."