HOUSTON (AP) – The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to overturn the conviction of Arthur Andersen was little comfort to former employees, who said the ruling came too late to help the 28,000 who lost their jobs when the accounting firm crumbled.

Jonathan Goldsmith, a former consultant at Andersen’s Chicago headquarters, said Tuesday that too many lives were hurt by the case.

“People have lost their jobs,” he said. “People had to move from their homes, take their roots and take their families and take them elsewhere.”

Although Amy Yates says she ended up with a better job, she worried about secretaries and other lower-paid employees who walked away with little more than two weeks severance pay.

“I think people feel a little ambivalent because they didn’t treat most employees in a way that would have engendered continuing loyalty with the company,” said Yates, now a corporate attorney at Hewitt Associates in Lincolnshire, Ill.

Arthur Andersen was convicted in June 2002 for destroying Enron Corp.-related documents before the energy giant’s collapse. But in a unanimous opinion, the Supreme Court justices said Tuesday that Andersen’s obstruction-of-justice conviction was improper. The decision said jury instructions at trial were too vague and broad for jurors to determine correctly whether Andersen obstructed justice.

The probe into Andersen led to just one guilty plea, from the firm’s former top Enron auditor, David Duncan. But the conviction of the Chicago firm forced it to surrender its accounting license and stop conducting public audits, leaving it virtually defunct. Andersen spokesman Patrick Dorton said the company was pleased with the Supreme Court’s decision.

“We pursued an appeal of this case not because we believed Arthur Andersen could be restored to its previous position, but because we had an obligation to set the record straight,” Dorton said.

One former Andersen employee, Steve Weinstein, said Tuesday’s ruling doesn’t erase the emotional impact the case had on him and his family, where “you didn’t want to tell people where you worked.”

“It was the indictment that killed Andersen, not the conviction,” said Weinstein, now president of Chicago-based Altair Advisers. “Today’s decision is certainly not going to bring Andersen back, but I think what it does is help set the record straight and really clear the name of the 28,000 innocent people who lost their jobs.”

James Hecker, a former partner in Andersen’s Houston office who didn’t audit Enron’s books, said the decision may not help Andersen, but it should let corporate America breathe a little easier.

“People will be less nervous about routine document issues and memo issues in the ordinary course of business. Overall it’s good, but it’s just history,” he said.

AP-ES-06-01-05 0434EDT