Even when a Fortune 500 CEO is ousted, there’s typically a golden goodbye on the way out. That doesn’t apply to former Norfolk Southern chief executive Alan Shaw, however, who the railroad company fired on Wednesday after an investigation found he and chief legal officer Nabanita C. Nag had engaged in a consensual romantic relationship, violating company policy. Norfolk terminated Shaw for cause, disqualifying him from receiving the benefits prescribed in the company’s executive severance plan.
Shaw largely weathered the storm when a Norfolk train carrying toxic chemicals famously derailed in eastern Ohio last year. Then, at the beginning of the year, he survived an activist bid to unseat him. He’s out the door now, however, and his alleged affair could prove costly.
