When the CEO is Fired, Does the Director Follow?

On BNET, I had a piece on VMware's CEO being summarily fired and the accompanying attempt to clean up the PR mess. In doing the research, I noticed that although the bio of the old CEO (and co-founder) had been taken down, her name was still on the list of directors. And that got me scratching my head. Had the company forgotten that part of the web site?

And then I realized that while the board could fire a CEO, it wasn't clear that it could necessarily fire a director. Oh, it might not put the person up for another term, but I don't know how many companies allow removal of a director for anything short of some great legal failing. If she decided to hang around, they might have to put up with her views for the near future. Granted, most people wouldn't want to stay around after being told they were unwanted, but what of the stubborn cusses who refuse to give up? It could make for a very uncomfortable board room.