The $1.4 million apology…

We’re still digging out from a heaping pile of Qs here at footnoted, but didn’t want to let this one from Key Corp. (KEY) filed last Friday slip through the cracks. It’s not so much the Q, but the exhibit attached to the filing that sparked our interest.

First, the back story: back on July 8, Key announced that Vice Chair Thomas Bunn would be retiring on Feb. 28, 2009 to fulfill “a long-held goal to retire from his corporate post at age 55 to turn his focus to board commitments and other personal interests.” The release was unusually effusive with some nice quotes from Key CEO Henry Meyer III. But that’s nothing compared with the language in the agreement attached to the Q, which begins like this:

Tom, initially, let me apologize for what may appear to be a very “legal” letter agreement addressing the circumstances associated with your intended retirement from KeyCor