Sunbeam Fires Chief Financial Officer

Sunbeam Corp. fired its vice chairman and chief financial officer, Russell Kersh, a longtime aide to ousted Chairman Al Dunlap. The household appliance maker named Robert Gluck, vice president and controller, as acting chief financial officer. Kersh joined Sunbeam in July 1996, four days after Sunbeam hired Dunlap. He had worked with the turnaround expert at Scott Paper Co., where he was executive vice president for finance and administration. Sunbeam fired Dunlap after the company said it will lose money for the second straight quarter, a reversal from forecasts Dunlap made in May. Kersh, whom Dunlap described in his book “Mean Business” as a longtime “alter ego,” hasn’t been given severance pay and the matter has been handed over to Sunbeam attorneys, the company said. Sunbeam shares fell 44 cents to close at $13.44 on the NYSE.