LOL....Executive Loses $1.1M Bonus

[Clocker]

Hah hah hah Ex-GM guy get's spanked. What an ass.

Bausch & Lomb (BOL:NYSE - news - commentary - research - analysis)
withheld a $1.1 million bonus from chief executive Ron Zarrella after he falsely claimed that he completed an MBA program at New York University.


The Rochester, N.Y.-based lens maker said in a letter to Zarrella on Tuesday that his deception is "a serious matter and cannot pass without consequence." The board revoked an incentive bonus of at least $1.1 million (a sum equal to his base salary for 2002) that it agreed to pay him when he was hired last November.

Zarrella offered his resignation on Monday after it was reported last Thursday by RealMoney.com's Herb Greenberg that Zarrella attended New York University's Stern School of Business from 1972 to 1976, but left without graduating. RealMoney.com is the subscription sister site of TheStreet.com.

Zarrella said the matter "stands out as a singular and uncharacteristic lapse in judgment that I hope to overcome in time." Despite the impropriety, the board decided that a management change was unnecessary given that the company has made impressive strides since his appointment.

"We continue to believe you are the right person to carry on the resurgence of the company," the board said. "We make this decision, in part, on your unqualified representation that there is no other issue of trust or veracity about which we need to be concerned," it added.

During his most recent tenure at Bausch & Lomb, Zarrella, who also served as the company's president and chief operating officer before heading to General Motors (GM:NYSE - news - commentary - research - analysis) in 1994, has eliminated 1,150 jobs and shut down its hard contact lens facilities in Miami, Spain and North Korea, further aligning the company for a transition to making disposable lenses.

The shares closed down 0.3% at $31.61 on Tuesday.

 

[jtr1962]

Couldn't happen to a better person. What was his great accomplishment anyway? Cutting costs by firing people? Any moron can do that. A good CEO should focus on increasing revenue, not cutting costs.

I'm thinking that perhap we should have a new national pastime. Let's stop hunting deer(why kill Bambi?), and let's start hunting ex-CEOs! Laid-off employees will have the right to shoot first, of course, but other than that, it should be open season on these guys. Besides being a great symbolic gesture, it would make current CEOs think a little harder before cooking the books or laying off people.

I just want to add that I think it's disgusting that anyone should be paid a bonus when people in the same company are losing their jobs, let alone one equal to more than many of the laid-off employees will earn in their entire lives.

 

[Buck]

I just want to add that I think it's disgusting that anyone should be paid a bonus when people in the same company are losing their jobs, let alone one equal to more than many of the laid-off employees will earn in their entire lives.

I agree . . . oh, wait, there is no one to layoff in my company.