The pharmaceutical company said an independent investigation was launched recently after it was “informed about allegations of an inappropriate personal relationship” between Smiley and an employee. “The investigation revealed consensual, though inadequate, personal communications with more than one employee and the behavior that Lilly’s leadership concluded that displayed a bad judgment on the part of Mr. Smiley,” the company said in a statement to CNN Business.
Eli Lilly did not provide details about the nature of the relationship or communications.
“Lilly holds all employees accountable for their core values and firmly believes that their executives carry an even greater burden to ensure that those values are maintained,” the company said in a statement on Tuesday. “Mr. Smiley did not meet this standard.”
Smiley is being replaced by Anat Ashkenazi, a 20-year veteran at the company who was recently vice president of Lilly Research Laboratories.