Enron's ex-employees disappointed former CEO Kenneth Lay refused to testify

HOUSTON - Like so many other laid-off Enron Corp. employees, Sue Nix had been looking forward to hearing its embattled former leader explain what happened. <br> <br> Those hopes were dashed when former CEO Kenneth Lay decided against giving his first public statements about the collapse on Monday before two of the 11 congressional committees investigating Enron&#39;s downfall. <br> <br> &#34;I think it&#39;s a shame that he can&#39;t say anything,&#34; Nix, a former Enron accountant, said Sunday. &#34;I just feel like this is really letting everybody down now.&#34; <br> <br> Many former employees left jobless after the former energy giant&#39;s stunning collapse were forced to cancel &#34;Watch Kenny&#34; get-togethers and said they were disappointed that his public silence will continue. <br> <br> &#34;He owes us a public statement in a public forum and something that&#39;s not so legally crafted,&#34; said John Moore, who had worked for Enron since 1985. &#34;Why not just come out and tell the truth and get it over with? This is just legal maneuvering.&#34; <br> <br> Lay&#39;s attorney, Earl Silbert, sent letters to the House Financial Services Committee and the Senate Commerce Committee on Sunday that said the tone of investigations had become &#34;prosecutorial,&#34; and that he had advised Lay to back out of his voluntary agreement to appear. <br> <br> Others expressed similar sentiments, wondering why Lay couldn&#39;t just ignore legal advice and make some effort to address the company&#39;s downfall and its devastating effect on employees, particularly those who lost 401(k)s loaded with Enron stock. <br> <br> &#34;We&#39;re not afraid to talk about how we were affected by it,&#34; said Rebekah Rushing, a former employee who is managing a fund to help former employees pay bills and mortgages. &#34;I don&#39;t understand why he can&#39;t go ahead and testify.&#34; <br> <br> Nix said workers still want an explanation from the man who assured workers that the company was strong even after it had entered its death spiral last year. <br> <br> &#34;Why did he lie to us and tell us everything was just great when it was not?&#34; she said. &#34;People can accept the truth. The constant lies are what is hard.&#34; <br> <br> Other former executives, including Jeff Skilling, former chief executive, and Andrew Fastow, former chief financial officer, were scheduled to appear Thursday. <br> <br> Fastow will invoke his rights under the Fifth Amendment and will not answer questions on Thursday, Rep. Billy Tauzin said Sunday on &#34;Meet the Press.&#34; <br> <br> Ken Johnson, a spokesman for the House Energy and Commerce Committee, said Sunday that if Lay refuses to testify, &#34;he&#39;ll be subpoenaed like everyone else.&#34; <br> <br> The Securities and Exchange Commission is investigating the collapse and the Justice Department is in the midst of a criminal probe. <br> <br> Lay also is being sued by employees and shareholders in a multitude of lawsuits filed against Enron officials, including several seeking money the executives gained by selling stock before the company crashed. Lay sold $101 million in shares from October 1998 through November last year. <br> <br> Enron, once No. 7 on the Fortune 500, crashed last year amid revelations of questionable accounting practices and restated earnings that erased millions of dollars in profits dating back to 1997. <br> <br> <br>

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