Warren, Ocasio-Cortez Press Ex-Sears CEO Lampert on Reneging on $43M Severance Payments
GoLocalProv News Team
Warren, Ocasio-Cortez Press Ex-Sears CEO Lampert on Reneging on $43M Severance Payments
Warren was joined in the letter by Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY 14).
Read the Letter Here
"The new reports of your efforts to avoid paying millions of dollars in severance payments to laid-off workers indicate that you are betraying the commitment you made to Sen. Warren, to the bankruptcy court, and most importantly, to the tens of thousands of workers who have lost their jobs and face uncertain futures after your exploitive tenure at Sears," wrote Warren and Ocasio-Cortez.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTIn the letter, Warren and Ocasio-Cortez requested more information about how and why Lampert is planning to renege on his promise to pay workers the severance money they have earned.
They requested a response to their questions by June 14, 2019.
Second Letter
Earlier this year, Warren wrote to Lampert expressing concern about the future of the company and its employees, following years of increasing debt, hundreds of thousands of layoffs, and store closings.
While detailing serious concerns about Lampert's management of the company, Warren also wrote in her letter that she was pleased that Lampert's offer to buy the company included a $43 million commitment to pay severance to workers who lost their jobs after Sears filed for bankruptcy in October.
In response to Warren's January 2019 inquiry about Lampert's plan to bring Sears out of bankruptcy, he pledged that "eligible employees of the new Sears will be entitled to the same severance benefits that were put in place following the bankruptcy filing.... In addition, the ESL transaction assures severance payments to employees who lost their jobs after October 15, 2018, and did not join the new Sears."
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