What can happen in a 16-day span? Well, according to Motorola (NYSE: MOT), a former employee -- whom the the firm "appreciated" -- can become a former employee who may have failed "to substantially perform duties," engaged in dishonesty, "gross misconduct," and breached "one or more restrictive covenants." (These are definitions for cause, not actual reasons cited by MOT for Liska's departure.) According to this Wall Street Journal article, former MOT chief financial officer Paul Liska filed a wrongful termination suit against the cellphone producer on February 20.

Yesterday, Liska expressed surprise in realizing that his termination was assigned cause. When MOT reported earnings (actually, a lack thereof) early in February, it stated that Liska was being replaced because the firm was delaying the spinoff of its cellphone unit. The firm's co-CEO actually praised Liska, noting "He did a lot of good work here." However, a recent SEC filing brought to light the fact that MOT asked Liska to repay a $400,000 cash signing bonus on February 19, noting that he was "involuntarily terminated for cause."

Yesterday we ran an earnings preview on mobile device maker Motorola (NYSE: MOT) and asked if the company would be able to break even for its fourth quarter. The answer is no, and shares are trading sharply lower in reaction to the company's weak earnings report.

Excluding items, the company lost a penny a share, which was weaker than the break even quarter that analysts had been hoping to see. For comparison purposes, the company was able to earn a positive 5 cents a share for the same period last year.

Motorola Inc. (NYSE: MOT), which can't seem to make up its mind regarding its floundering wireless handset division, has given yet another sign that it may be considering some kind of equity move with it. The Illinois-based telecom company has hired private-equity executive Paul Liska as its new CFO. Liska will have responsibility for hoarding as much cash for the wireless giant as possible, but will also probably take a look under the hood in regards to what needs to be done about the company's wireless handset business so that it can be making consistent profits again.

Here's tip number one to Liska: all the financial moves in the world won't help a thing unless Motorola can make wireless products customers want -- and hopefully, desire. That's not happening right now. Korean rivals Samsung and LG Electronics are churning out sexy handset designs with multiple wireless carriers left and right. Motorola? Not so much. The Apple, Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) iPhone has put the hurt on Motorola just that much more.

So, where does that leave Liska? Even though Motorola CEO Greg Brown said that the company was committed to its handset division, that could be interpreted as this: "we are committed to looking at every option to ensure our handset division remains part of the company or is spun off into a separate entity that would shield Motorola shareholders from its dastardly performance." I'm not putting words into anyone's mouth here, but Brown's "committed" statement could mean several different things. It will be up to Liska to make a map of those things and drive the best decision into the boardroom for the company. Maybe he'll get chummy with longtime Motorola pundit Carl Icahn as well.