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Tuesday, September 20, 2005

LATEST ON LADNER


Despite his attorney's recent insistence that all was and would be well, the merde has truly hit the ventilateur for "suspended American University President Benjamin A. Ladner," as the Washington Post, in its cruel journalistic shorthand, now routinely calls him.

The federal government has decided to take a look at his books. More precisely, both the US Attorney's Office and the IRS have officially begun sniffing around Lander's personal and travel expenses.

"The case could have tax implications not only for Ladner but also for AU," write the Post reporters (who, despite all the secrecy everyone's trying to maintain, seem to have pretty garrulous inside sources) "which is bound by laws governing how much charities and universities pay their executives."




As to activities on campus, "There is a split on the board about the severity of the issues reviewed in its audit, according to several sources familiar with the board's discussions. Some trustees view Ladner's expenses as justified by the constant fundraising and entertaining required of today's university presidents, while others believe that the spending was out of line for a school of AU's size, the sources said."

Constant entertaining. No wonder this guy has to be compensated at $800,000 annually.

Did I say $800,000? I've been saying around $650,000. I was wrong:


The board also has been wrangling with Ladner over compensation -- his salary, benefits and allowances -- which has more than tripled since he came in 1994, according to one source with detailed knowledge of Ladner's pay. In 2004, his base salary was $633,000, but his total compensation was well over $800,000, according to forms the university filed with the IRS.

Last year, some board members became concerned that Ladner's pay was too high for the president of a 10,000-student private, nonprofit school and that they could be liable under laws intended to avoid excessive compensation to executives of charities, sources knowledgeable about board activities said.



Indeed, "The board decided to reduce Ladner's overall compensation by an undisclosed amount, according to the sources."

Hell, he'll have to quit now. Any pay reduction would be too humiliating.




And there's more on the chauffeurs: "A preliminary report by Arnold & Porter LLP, a law firm helping the trustees, has been completed and sent to Ladner. The report includes records of several chauffeurs employed by Ladner and his wife, Nancy Bullard Ladner. Chauffeurs kept a log of their duties, including taking Ladner to such events as an athletic awards banquet, dropping off dry cleaning and taking Nancy Ladner to an appointment at a hair salon." Those logs will be the death of him.
Posted at: 9/20/2005 10:49:00 AM