Posted on 05/30/2008 4:13:15 PM PDT by Libloather
Court To Decide If Spitzer Overreached on Grasso
By JOSEPH GOLDSTEIN, Staff Reporter of the Sun
May 30, 2008
The state's highest court is gearing up to decide whether Eliot Spitzer overreached four years ago when, as attorney general, he sought to force a former New York Stock Exchange chief, Richard Grasso, to relinquish his $187.5 million pay package.
On June 3, the Court of Appeals, which sits in Albany, will hear arguments on a sticking point in People v. Grasso that will set the ground rules for any eventual trial. The state, whose case is now pressed by Attorney General Cuomo, is seeking a trial after which Mr. Grasso must surrender his pay if it's proved that the amount was unreasonable for a not-for-profit corporation, which the NYSE was until recently. The law provides little guidance for determining what is reasonable.
**SNIP**
The attorney general's suit goes beyond arguing that Mr. Grasso's compensation was unreasonable. The complaint filed by Mr. Spitzer also alleged that Mr. Grasso kept the exchange's board members in the dark about how much the exchange would owe him upon his retirement.
**SNIP**
"The Attorney General has no business expending public resources to recover money for the New York Stock Exchange," Mr. Grasso's brief states.
Mr. Grasso's lawyers also warned the court of what might follow if the attorney general was recognized to have the authority to police the executive compensation at institutions based on their importance to New York's economy. They argued that such a ruling would give the attorney general's office an unprecedented authority to sue corporate executives, even of for-profit institutions.
**SNIP**
(Excerpt) Read more at nysun.com ...
For what?
I can’t sympathize with Grasso. Spitzer used prostitutes, but I don’t think he should go to jail just for that.
I have never heard that he has been charged with anything. If it was anyone of us we would already be sitting in prison. I suppose he is not going to be charged- would be my guess. Mean while his replacement is just as sick in the head.
spitzer, patterson....so many scumbags, so little time.
Well he did a bit more than that. Broke some federal laws as well.
any new suicides in NY lately?
No one goes to jail just for “structuring.”
That he is no longer gov. is enough.
You don’t actually think that Grasso is a hero in this story, do you?
Now it seems to me that Grasso simple negotiated the best compensation package he could get from his employer.
Why don't you explain exactly what is wrong with that?
The fact that it was a very high compensation package does not make it illegal, or even immoral. If he was negotiating with an entity with little sophistication, it might be illegal or immoral, but you will never convince me that the New York Stock Exchange is naive or shouldn't be expected to negotiate as an equal with Mr. Grasso.
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