Grasso Wins! Story on C3

Posted by Marc Hodak on June 27, 2008 under Executive compensation | Be the First to Comment

After years of being the poster boy for greed, the whipping boy of the New York media and political establishment, for having the temerity to accept what he was paid by his bosses, Dick Grasso can finally smile. The New York Court of Appeals basically affirmed the business judgment rule by affirming the dismissal of four of the six charges against him originally brought by then-AG Elliott Spitzer. It’s highly unlikely that the new AG, left to clean up his predecessor’s mess, will be able to prevail on the remaining counts.

While some will no doubt grouse about fair pay, I will be wondering about the headlines that weren’t written about this story on C1:

“Grasso Gets to Keep What He Was Paid”

“Court Dismisses Spitzer’s ‘Attempt to Circumvent Law'”

“We’re Sorry For Sullying Grasso’s Good Name”

Instead it sounds like a triumph of technicality: “Grasso Wins Appeal in Pay Lawsuit” on the WSJ “Deal and Deal Makers” page. What a deal.

Larry Ribstein, predicting this outcome, wrote:

It likely will be recognized as the bald-faced political gambit that it was.

Unfortunately, I doubt this outcome will be recognized at all. The gambit worked. Spitzer won the governorship.

A state’s attorney can get away with “attempting to circumvent the law” with impunity. In fact, he can be rewarded for leading a crusade supported by shameless, moralistic enablers.

When Spitzer got tossed out of the Governor’s mansion, it wasn’t for doing something that should be illegal, but isn’t; it was for something that shouldn’t be illegal, but is.

Alas, most people are more bothered by the idea of sleaze in making a buck, even if that turns out not to be true, than they are about sleaze in winning high office, even when that turns out to be true.

Update: Now it’s game, set, and match.