Stamford-based Purdue Pharma seeking court approval for up to $29M in employee bonuses
STAMFORD — OxyContin-maker Purdue Pharma is seeking court approval to pay up to $29 million in employee bonuses for 2021, but those incentives are opposed by Connecticut and other parties involved in the company’s bankruptcy.
Purdue officials say the additional payments are necessary to tackle high turnover and recognize employees for helping the Stamford-based company manage its bankruptcy proceedings and restructuring into a new firm. The 2021 bonuses could total up to about $7 million for CEO and President Craig Landau and other top executives and about $22 million for several hundred lower-level employees.
“The experience, expertise and knowledge of the debtors’ highly skilled, trained and educated workforce is necessary to allow the debtors to operate in their highly regulated industry and navigate the challenges stemming from the debtors’ restructuring,” the company said in a motion filed in federal bankruptcy court in White Plains, N.Y. “Motivation and retention of the debtors’ valuable key employees, through continued appropriate and competitive compensation, remains mission critical to maintaining and driving productivity, morale and achievement to maximize value for the benefit of all stakeholders.”
Purdue’s bonus plan requires the approval of Judge Robert Drain, with a hearing scheduled for July 29. In September 2020, Drain approved a bonus package of up to nearly $36 million for several hundred employees and permitted in late 2019 a bonus round totaling about $35 million.
Read more: https://www.nhregister.com/business/article/Stamford-based-Purdue-Pharma-seeking-court-16322684.php
(New Haven Register)