409A Dismay by Rich Meisner. I created 409A Dismay as a public arena for expression of dismay over complex executive tax rules. I am an attorney with over 19 years of experience handling executive compensation and employee benefit matters for large and small companies, executives, employees and ERISA plan participants. Feel free to contact me if you have information that you wish to publish on this blog, or if you have any questions or comments regarding 409A.