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Tony Ondrusek is founder and publisher of Insurance & Financial Advisor and IFAwebnews.com.

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Goldman Sachs, the venerable Wall Street investment banking firm, is getting heat from at least one of its clients over its current compensation practices.

In response to reported compensation and bonuses of about $22 billion for 2009, a pension fund for police and fire workers filed suit in an attempt to prove that the payouts are excessive. (click here for story)

Even though the payouts come with more stock and risk restrictions than in the past (click here for story), the Security Police and Fire Professionals of America Retirement Fund says contends that because Goldman received $10 billion in taxpayer TARP bailout, the compensation is unwarranted. Goldman repaid the bailout earlier this year.

According to the pension fund, the fact that Goldman survived and thrived is due to U.S. taxpayers, and not the skill of its executives. Thus, much of the compensation and bonus payout actually belongs to the shareholders, the fund contends.

AIG has strict compensation rules in place, but it hasn’t paid all of its TARP money back. Big banks such as  Citigroup and Bank of America are rushing to pay it back the money so that executives can avoid government compensation rules and avoid the public stigma associated with the bailout. (click here for story)

But when no less than the president calls those such as the executives at Goldman Sachs “fat cat bankers” (it was ironic that when President Obama called the nation’s top bankers to the White House for a royal talking-to that Lloyd Blankfein, CEO of Goldman Sachs, was unable to make the meeting due to fog and the inability to make it on time by private jet…has he ever heard of Amtrak?), one can surmise that executive pay scrutiny will not go away.

While it is unclear how much Blankfein will take home this year, 2009 was one of Goldman Sachs’ most profitable fiscal periods. In 2007 he made more than $53 million, while around the same time at least one of its top traders was rumored to have made more than $100 million. (click here for story) If the past is an indicator, Blankfein’s pay for this year will be hefty, that is, unless the police pension fund has something to say about it.

So, is the era of unchecked executive compensation over? In Maryland, for example, the CEO of the state’s largest energy supplier forfeited several tens of millions in pay and bonuses contingent upon a merger with a foreign firm. No doubt, public opinion and outcry played a major role in his decision.

When it comes to publicly traded companies, utilities and other institutions such as large insurers and banks that rely on government backing, the tide might be turning against large compensation packages.