Sonus Terminates VP of Engineering

Sonus Networks Inc. (Nasdaq: SONS) has "terminated" the employment of Chuba Udokwu, vice president of engineering, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filing this afternoon.

Reasons for the termination are unclear, and Sonus couldn't be reached for comment.

Udokwu's duties had already been reassigned to other executives as of Sept. 18, according to a separate SEC filing. Now he's out, effective today, receiving severance pay and health benefits through mid-2009. (That's 37 weeks.) Udokwu's base salary last year was $250,000, according to past SEC documents.

He joined Sonus in 2006 from Cisco Systems Inc. (Nasdaq: CSCO). (See Sonus Names VP Engineering.) His past resume includes Seranoa (acquired by White Rock Networks); Alcatel and Lucent (when they were separate); and Mintera Corp. . (See Looking at M&A Aftermath .)

— Craig Matsumoto, West Coast Editor, Light Reading