McAfee has fired General Counsel Kent Roberts over an "improper" incident that took place in 2000, the Sunnyvale, Calif.-based security vendor said Monday.

The incident came to light as part of McAfee's ongoing review of its prior practices in granting employee stock options in the late 1990s and 2000, according to a company statement.

Roberts, who was also one of McAfee's executive vice presidents, was responsible for overseeing domestic and international legal issues, mergers and acquisitions, and intellectual property rights. He joined McAfee in May 1998 and had served as general counsel and secretary since January 2001.

Last week at McAfee's annual shareholder event in New York, CEO George Samenuk revealed that McAfee had voluntarily initiated a review of its stock option grant practices. "We are also in dialogue with the Securities and Exchange Commission on an informal basis. If in the course of our review we should find anything of note, we will make the appropriate disclosures," Samenuk said.