Andersen announced that it also is replacing the management of its office in Houston, where Enron is based, and is relieving four Andersen partners in the Houston office of their management responsibilities. The four partners are D. Stephen Goddard Jr., Michael M. Lowther, Gary B. Goolsby and Michael C. Odom.

The firm said it will fire any other employees found to have participated in the improper destruction of documents.

Andersen has destroyed thousands of documents related to Enron's complex accounting. The Securities and Exchange Commission, the Justice Department and five congressional panels have launched an investigation into Enron's bankruptcy case and the accounting firm 's role in Enron's collapse.

Describing the announcement as "a painful decision but it was absolutely the right thing to do," Andersen chief executive officer Joseph Berardino said the firm is prepared to "take all appropriate steps necessary" to maintain confidence in its integrity.

Enron filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last month, the largest bankruptcy case in U.S. history. The company markets electricity and natural gas, delivers energy and other physical commodities, and provides financial and risk management services to customers around the world.

The company's fall left thousands of its employees without jobs and destroyed much of their retirement savings because Enron did not allow workers to sell holdings when the stock price was plunging.