SCRUSHY HAS A SCORE TO SETTLE

If this were a made-for-tv movie, it would be called Revenge of the CEO. When former HealthSouth Corp. Chairman and Chief Executive Richard M. Scrushy emerged from a Birmingham (Ala.) courthouse on June 28, acquitted by a jury on all 36 criminal counts brought by the government over his alleged role in a $2.7 billion accounting fraud, the worst of his legal problems were behind him. Now, if Scrushy has his way, it's payback time. Cleared of fraud charges, Scrushy is intent on settling the score with HealthSouth, a company he founded in 1984. Scrushy still faces civil charges filed by the Securities & Exchange Commission. A ruling in favor of the SEC -- which legal experts believe could happen, given the lower burden of proof required -- could bar Scrushy from serving as an executive or holding a seat on the board of any public company. Nor is Scrushy completely out of the woods on the criminal front: Prosecutors are expected to try to refile the perjury charges that were thrown out in the recent case.