http://www.forbes.com/work/feeds/ap/2004/10/21/ap1603133.html

QuikQuote: Walt Disney Co.'s board had the right to fire Michael Ovitz, the company's former president, for cause under California law, an expert witness testified Thursday as a high-profile shareholder lawsuit continued for a second day.
The lawsuit, which has been in progress for more than seven years, claims Disney's board did not properly scrutinize Ovitz's employment contract when he joined the company in 1995 and then wrongly granted him a non-fault termination that entitled him to a $140 million severance package 14 months later.

I've been following this lawsuit to some extent. Although it's only a couple of days into the trial, and according to the string of leaked documents for the past few months, it would seem that Michael Eisner had a profound case of bad judgement in hiring Ovitz to be such a highly placed executive at Disney. I can see where their relationship, prior to the hiring, had been cordial enough. However, you have to know a person pretty darn well to recommend hiring such a person to be president of a company such as Disney. And clearly, at least this early in the trial, Eisner didn't know Ovitz as well as Eisner thought he did. I notice all this is post-death of Frank Wells. Oh, to know the inside story of just how Frank Wells managed Disney while he was still alive, and what Wells did in Disney management and planning vs. what Michael Eisner did. Water over the dam now, of course. But we'll get additional insight into how Michael Eisner was as CEO, albeit quite a few years after the fact, as this trial moves along.