A federal judge overseeing the liquidation of Sports Authority approved a modified bonus program that will pay top executives of the bankrupt retailer up to $1,425,000, or 6.9 percent less than a proposal she had described as “unseemly.”
“The Debtors are authorized to take any and all actions necessary or appropriate to implement the Modified KEIP and to make all payments provided under the Modified KEIP,’ reads the order signed Aug. 31 by U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge Mary F. Walrath.
Walrath had rejected Sports Authority’s original motion for $2.85 million in executive incentive pay and called a revised $1.53 million bonus plan “unseemly” given that so many of the retailers unsecured creditors will receive none of what they are owed. The U.S. Trustee overseeing the case joined landlords and other unsecured creditors in opposing the plan.
In her order Wednesday, Walrath waived a customary 14 day stay of the order, which clears the way for Sports Authority to make the payments immediately.
