Lawyer: Ovitz Severance Justified

Former Walt Disney Co. General Counsel Sanford Litvack said ex-President Michael Ovitz’s failures didn’t amount to the gross negligence required to fire him without paying his severance.

Litvack, who testified Tuesday in the Delaware shareholder lawsuit seeking to recover Ovitz’s severance, said he found no basis for ousting Ovitz for cause after reviewing complaints about the former talent agent. Other Disney executives complained about Ovitz’s lavish spending and expense account.

“He was guilty of not being able to do the job,” said Litvack, who also was a Disney director. “But failure at a job does not amount to gross negligence or malfeasance.”

Ovitz’s contract allowed him to be fired with no severance if his conduct met those standards, court papers show.

Litvack’s testimony is an attempt to counter investors’ allegations that Chief Executive Michael Eisner could have fired Ovitz without paying him severance. Shareholders want severance they value at $140 million returned to Disney.

Litvack, who left Disney in 2000, said Tuesday under questioning by his lawyer that he sparred with Ovitz during the former agent’s tenure as Disney’s president. Litvack added that he put his personal feelings aside when analyzing the legal question of whether Ovitz was entitled to his severance package.

“If there was a way not to pay him, I would not have paid him,” Litvack said. “I didn’t like him and he didn’t like me.”