Gaston Bastiaens, who also held the title, president of L&H, has been replaced by John Duerden, the president and CEO of L&H's Health Care Solutions Group. Previously, Duerden was chairman and CEO of Dictaphone Corp., which L&H recently acquired. L&H's U.S. operations are based in Burlington.

Bastiaens will continue to hold a seat on the company's board, L&H said.

The announcement did nothing to help L&H's stock, which has fallen more than 25 percent in one day earlier this month. Shares were down in midday trading Friday, trading at 31, down 3.6875 or more than 10 percent. Shares are down about 50 percent since spring.

L&H was sued this week in U.S. District Court in Massachusetts by shareholders over its reporting of sales figures in Korea. The company's announcement of Bastiaens' departure made no mention of the lawsuit or the accounting allegations.

The suit claims Lernout & Hauspie violated federal securites laws by overstating and inventing fictitious sales of its software to Korean customers.

The suit, filed by the Boston law firm of Berman, DeValerio & Pease LLP, seeks unnamed damages for a group of LHSP shareholders between Dec. 28, 1999, and Aug. 7.

At a time when L&H's software sales have been falling around the world, the company had reported revenue figures in Korea soaring, rising from $97,000 in the first quarter of 1999 to $58.9 million in the same quarter this year.

A story about Lernout & Hauspie's Korean sales figures was published in the Wall Street Journal on Aug. 8. The report was hotly denied by L&H executives, though not all of the story's allegations were refuted. The company has since said it would conduct an audit.

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Following the story's publication, LHSP shares dropped almost 28 percent, from 37 to 26.75.

The Journal reported that three companies listed by Bastiaens as customers said they haven't done business with the firm at all, while three others said their sales had been smaller than figures stated by Bastiaens and another L&H executive.

In a press release issued in the wake of that story, L&H said that "statements attributed to L&H Korean customers are misquoted or factually incorrect and that other information appearing in the article, including its customer roster, is distorted."

Duerden, who is also the former president and COO of Reebok, was credited with rapid growth at Dictaphone, a call-center company.

"By acquiring Dictaphone and Dragon Systems L&H gained access to a talented pool of managers," said Bastiaens. "As a significant shareholder of L&H, I'm very pleased with the appointment of John Duerden as my successor. With an established track record in leading companies in bold strategic directions, John is well-suited to take L&H into its next phase."