Foul language bumps Livent trial rating up to PG-13

The air turned a distinct shade of blue today at the Livent trial when the normally avuncular Brian Greenspan, having taken over his brother’s cross-examination of Gordon Eckstein, reacquainted the former Livent CFO with his expressed feelings for his former employers. Reading from a deposition given by a former Livent employee, Greenspan read testimony in open court stating that Eckstein had on numerous occasions referred to his bosses as “fuckheads, shitheads and idiots.”

Then Greenspan the Younger put it to Eckstein directly:

“Did you in fact call Garth Drabinsky and Myron Gottlieb, etc., etc.” “I don’t recall using those exact terms,” replied Eckstein. “These are reasonably distinctive terms,” said Greenspan. “Have you ever used the word shithead? Have you ever used the word fuckhead?”

And on and on and on.

Later, the air turned blue again as Greenspan recited testimony from another Livent employee in which Eckstein—while berating a female underling—was accused of using the F-bomb as a verb, adjective and noun in more or less the same sentence. Judge Mary Lou Benotto stared hard at Eckstein. It’s been clear for a while that one purpose of Greenspan’s cross is to portray Eckstein as an egotistical, abusive misogynist. And in that respect (if in no other), the brothers Greenspan are batting .1000.

• Livent’s Gottlieb knew little of accounting, trial told [Globe and Mail]