You're right, I wish NYT had taken time to interview someone from the board to get both sides of the story.
From what I can gather, he put together a pretty cool company with nice ethics. I heard that he hired felons saying that everyone needs a second chance. He treated his employees well. The company, so far as I know, was doing well. Not cranking the stock price but making bank and taking care of customers and employees. What's so awful about that?