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Penney Fires Top Executive Six Months After Hiring


J. C. Penney, the department store operator, said yesterday that it fired its chief operating officer, Catherine G. West, after only six months on the job.

Ms. West, 47, was named executive vice president and chief operating officer in June. She previously worked for Capital One Financial, where she had been president of its United States card business. Her termination was effective immediately, J. C. Penney said in a brief statement.

The company, which is based in Plano, Tex., and operates more than 1,000 stores, did not give a reason for the firing and would not provide details. Ms. West could not immediately be reached for comment.

The store operations, property development and logistics departments, which were reporting to Ms. West, will now report to Myron E. Ullman III, Penney’s chairman and chief executive, the company said.

A Citigroup analyst, Deborah Weinswig, wrote in a research note that Ms. West’s termination came as a surprise but added that her departure would not represent a big loss for the company, given her short tenure.

“We believe this decision came as a result of Ms. West not being a good fit for the company,” Ms. Weinswig wrote.

Darcie Brossart, a Penney spokeswoman, said that Ms. West had a severance agreement and that the retailer intended to honor its terms.

According to a June filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Ms. West was to earn a base salary of $750,000, to be reviewed annually starting in 2007, with a cash bonus that could be as much as 150 percent of her salary.

She was also to receive stock option awards and restricted stock awards valued at more than $20 million in recognition of forfeited benefits at her former employer, Capital One, as well as a minimum cash bonus for 2006 of $1 million.

Penney shares, which are up 39 percent since January, closed down 76 cents, at $77.64, on the New York Stock Exchange.

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