ALBANY, N.Y. AP – New York’s top court backed a lower court in throwing out four of the state’s six claims against former New York Stock Exchange Chairman Richard Grasso’s $187.5 million compensation package, saying the attorney general at the time had exceeded his authority.
In a unanimous decision Wednesday affirming a midlevel court’s ruling, Court of Appeals Chief Judge Judith Kaye said the four challenges were based for the most part on just the size of the 2003 compensation package. But state law requires more: evidence Grasso knew the payment was unlawful or that he exercised bad faith in wasting NYSE assets, she wrote.
