Don't Let the Door Hit You

From an article by Jim Hightower posted on AlterNet today:

A new survey finds that corporate chieftains who inflict economic pain on the company's workers receive more financial gain for themselves. The Institute for Policy Studies examined the layoff-payoff records of America's 500 largest corporations during the past couple of years. IPS researchers report that the 50 CEOs who fired the most rank-and-file employees averaged 42 percent higher pay than their peers, averaging an extra $3.5 million each.

One of the champions in this contest of convoluted corporate compensation was Mark Hurd. As chief executive of computer giant Hewlett-Packard, Hurd dumped 6,400 workers in 2009 -- a year in which he pocketed a paycheck of $24.2 million. Earlier this year, Hurd was forced to resign from HP after an internal investigation found that he falsified some expense reports. No need to weep for Mark, though -- he was comfortably compensated for this bad turn of fortune, receiving a severance package reportedly worth $40 million...

You know as well as I do that, for most workers, this is NOT how it works at all. If you are caught falsifying expense reports or some other offense, you're told, "Don't let the door hit you on your way out!"

And let's be frank, here. Falsifying expense accounts is a form of theft. You're getting paid for activities or services you didn't actually use/provide or you're receiving far more than you truly spent. Most lower rung workers wouldn't receive a "severance package" at all. No, they would be far more likely to be prosecuted and/or fired with no benefits whatsoever.

I don't understand the logic. You find out that the head man has been bilking the corporation for serious amounts of money and you send him away with a gigantic nest egg? Isn't that called rewarding BAD behavior?