They just don't get it. The Journal Register is going bankrupt and still wants to pay its top people $1.7 million in bonuses.
The Register is based in Yardley, Pa. and owns dozens of mostly suburban newspapers like the Trentonian, The Daily Local, The Phoenix and The Reporter. The company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in February.
The company's asking the court if it can use nearly two million as "incentive pay" for 31 "key employees" who deserve bonuses for cutting jobs, eliminating publications and reaching certain financial targets
The bankruptcy judge has to approve the motion in order for that to happen. Pennsylvania Attorney General Tom Corbett filed an objection Monday. He says the bonuses amount to an employee retention plan that doesn't meet federal bankruptcy law standards.
The goal of incentive plans should be "to provide motivation for future performance ... not to reward past performance," Corbett said.
Connecticut filed a similar objection in March. Giving out bonuses partly for helping the company lay off hundreds of employees and close publications would violate federal bankruptcy law and "add insult to injury" in the midst of the current economic crisis, Assistant Attorney General Denise Mondell said then.
The Journal Register owes the state of Pennsylvania at least $286,000 in taxes according to Corbett's office.
