Eisner testimony continues in Disney shareholder suit News
Eisner testimony continues in Disney shareholder suit

[JURIST] Cross examination of Disney CEO Michael Eisner began Wednesday in a shareholder suit against Walt Disney Co. over whether the executive board neglected its duty to shareholders in allowing former president Michael Ovitz to leave with a $140 million severance package after only 14 months of work. The case threatens to set a high-profile precedent for the business judgment rule which mandates board members' fiduciary responsibility to act in the best interests of company shareholders. Eisner's testimony to date has detailed the bad fit Ovitz turned out to be with Disney. Disney's shareholders have, however, taken exception to Eisner's alleged failure to consult with board members before offering Ovitz the generous severance package, sayaing that Ovitz should have been fired "for cause," thereby avoiding severance pay. The New York Times has more. The Christian Science Monitor has background on the case and its legal ramifications.

THIS DAY @ LAW

International Day Against Fascism and Anti-Semitism

November 9 is the International Day Against Fascism and Anti-Semitism [UNITED factsheet]. On November 9, 1924, American gay activist Henry Gerber and several associates formed the Society for Human Rights, the first gay rights organization in the United States. The Society received a charter from the State of Illinois in December but was disbanded in July 1925 after a police raid which led to Gerber's arrest and trial (albeit not conviction). Pay a virtual visit to Henry Gerber House, now a registered Chicago landmark.

Supreme Court strikes down Massachusetts anti-draft law

On November 9, 1970, the Supreme Court voted 6-3 in Massachusetts v. Laird not to hear the case of the state's anti-draft law. Massachusetts had passed a law, which allowed its citizens to decline to fight in any undeclared war, even if the person was drafted. The law was passed in opposition to the draft and the war in Vietnam. The First Circuit found the war constitutional and thus struck down the law.