Mr. Kazarian, in contrast, was criticized by Sunbeam executives and employees for his harsh management tactics.

Soon after Sunbeam filed for bankruptcy, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) sued Dunlap and four other Sunbeam executives, alleging that they had engineered a massive accounting fraud.

He also said his former partners conspired with Sunbeam executives who faced dismissal under Mr. Kazarian for poor performance.

For one thing, Mr. Dunlap has taken credit for many improvements that began before he arrived, former Sunbeam executives and others say.

Sunbeam executives also disclosed yesterday that 120 files from Mr. Kazarian's office had been discarded.

Earlier this year, Mr. Dunlap and other former Sunbeam executives agreed to pay $15 million to settle a shareholder lawsuit accusing them of releasing misleading information.

And Albert J. Dunlap, the ousted former chairman and chief executive of Sunbeam, which is reorganizing under bankruptcy court protection, and two other former Sunbeam executives agreed in January to pay a total of $15 million from their own pockets to settle an investor class-action fraud lawsuit.

Also named in the suit were four other former Sunbeam executives and the lead partner for Sunbeam's account with Arthur Andersen LLP.

He also repeated earlier contentions that certain Sunbeam executives conspired to drive him from the company because their employment contracts were not going to be renewed, and they would therefore lose valuable stock options.

According to analysts and former Sunbeam executives, the company is losing market share in its gas-grill and furniture lines.