company's treasurer, are scheduled to go on trial today for allegedly destroying key documents sought in a racial bias suit that later engulfed the company in scandal.

The discrimination case resulted in Texaco's agreement last year to pay a record $176.1 million to black employees and to diversify its work force and business activities. The settlement followed widespread publicity over tapes of Texaco managers making racist remarks and discussing the shredding of potentially damaging internal documents.

Included in the imbroglio was Bermuda-based executive, J. David Keough, who was unceremoniously dumped from his position as the CFO at Heddington Insurance, the oil giant's captive insurance company.

In New York, Robert Ulrich, formerly the company's top finance department executive, and Richard Lundwall, the former senior coordinator of personnel services in Texaco's finance department, are both charged with obstruction of justice and conspiracy for their roles in the scheme.

If convicted of all charges, both men face a possible maximum prison term of 15 years and $500,000 in fines.

The case against the men stems from Lundwall's own decision to provide evidence against himself and others in the discrimination case against Texaco.

In that class action suit, filed in 1994, a group of black employees alleged that Texaco discriminated against them in promotions and pay.

Lundwall had secretly taped conversations between himself and others in which they discussed destroying documents requested by the plaintiffs. When Lundwall was dismissed by Texaco in a downsizing move, he gave the tapes to the plaintiffs' lawyers.

After the tapes were made public in court proceedings, Texaco agreed to pay $176.1 million in the largest settlement of a race discrimination lawsuit in history.

Prosecutors said the plaintiffs' lawyers in the discrimination case learned from an August 1994 deposition of Lundwall that he and other officials kept certain records relating to Texaco's promotion and development of minority employees.

The indictment charges that after the plaintiffs' lawyers asked that the records be produced in 1994, Ulrich directed Lundwall to "shred'' and "get rid of'' certain documents.

COURTS CTS