Finally, some good news to come out of this Toys “R” Us mess
When the once great toys store, Toys R Us, closed up shop earlier this year. Thousands of employees found themselves without a job and even worse, with no severance pay. Even if they were previously promised the pay. However, things are making a turn for the better as two of the former owners have allocated $20 million dollars into a severance pay fund.
According to CNN.com, Bain Capital and KKR equity firms have set up the fund to pay the former employees. The 3rd party, Vornado, haven’t participated in the funding. All three were owners of the Toys “R” Us brand before it had filed for bankruptcy. It’s reported that the company is over $5 billion dollars in debt. We’re not sure how much has been made back after the liquidation. How much severance and how it will be awarded hasn’t been detailed in the announcement.
I’m happy to see that something is finally being done for those that were let go. Especially since how the entire situation was handled. For those who aren’t aware, the way that bankruptcy laws are in North America works, there are loopholes that can be exploited. Due to this, everyone who was let go was not entitled to severance pay. Instead, all the money tied up in the company was set aside to pay creditors first.
Of course, the executive team that was running the company into the ground was awarded $16 million dollars in bonuses. Sounds far, right? Basically, the people who helped kill the company still walked away with a hefty amount of change in their pockets.
Hopefully, those affected by the closures are awarded their severance pay sooner than later. Especially now that we’re in the holiday season. It would definitely make for a very nice Christmas gift. You can check out the article in it’s entirely by heading to CNN.com.
Source: CNN
