Compuware Lays Off 250, Hires Kwame Kilpatrick

[RandySF]

On the very same day that Detroit-based Compuware announces a plan to lay off 250 employees, they also announce their plans to hire the disgraced former mayor of Detroit Kwame Kilpatrick. Cronyism is not just for Republicans (if Kwame was ever a real Democrat).

http://www.freep.com/article/20090212/NEWS01/902120442/1001/rss01


Former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick is to be named to a new job in Texas with Covisint, an affiliate of Detroit-based Compuware Corp., several sources have confirmed to the Free Press.

Compuware Chairman Peter Karmanos was preparing to announce the hiring today, one person said, speaking on the condition of anonymity.

Kilpatrick's duties were not defined, but would not include contact with Detroit or Michigan-based customers. Covisint develops systems for large computer networks to communicate with one another.


Kilpatrick's attorneys have asked Wayne Circuit Judge David Groner for a hearing next week, where they will ask the judge to modify Kilpatrick's probation so that he can move to Texas permanently.

Oakland County Executive L. Brooks Patterson said Karmanos told him in October that he was going to offer Kilpatrick a job.

"I haven't heard any details about what the job is," Patterson said Wednesday night. "But I walked away from the conversation admiring Peter's loyalty. It wasn't my place to question his decision."

The conversation took place at a campaign event at Oakland Hills Country Club when Karmanos' wife, Danialle, was running for the Wayne State University Board of Trustees.

Officials with Compuware were not immediately available for comment late Wednesday.

Kilpatrick went to Dallas last week, after he was freed from a 99-day jail sentence for perjury, ostensibly to seek employment. He met there with officials of Compuware, the person familiar with the negotiations said.

Kilpatrick resigned his office and went to jail after pleading guilty in what became known as the text message scandal for misleading a Wayne County jury about his relationship with former Chief of Staff Christine Beatty and the firing of police officers investigating his conduct in office. The scandal became public when the Free Press obtained text messages sent by Kilpatrick and Beatty and published articles about them early last year.