A recent opinion of the Delaware Chancery Court, Seinfeld v. Slager, [1] addresses the legal standard applicable to directors’ decisions about their own pay under Delaware law, an important topic as to which there is little prior law. In an opinion by Vice Chancellor Glasscock, the Court held that a derivative claim alleging that directors breached their fiduciary duties by granting themselves excessive compensation survived a motion to dismiss. [2] In so concluding, the Court also found that the directors’ action did not have the protection of the business judgment rule and was instead subject to “entire fairness” review.

The Court’s decision to require “entire fairness” review means that the claim of excessive compensation could proceed to a full evidentiary trial on the merits. Under Delaware law, a court will not second-guess business judgments of directors if the directors acted in good faith, exercised due care and were not conflicted in the matter. When the business judgment rule does not apply, the judgments may be subject to heightened scrutiny under the entire fairness standard. To meet this standard, the directors must demonstrate that both the process undertaken by directors and the amount of their compensation are fair to the company.

(more…)