By: Associated Press//October 3, 2019//
WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. (AP) — Attorneys general from 24 states are telling a judge that OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma should not be allowed to pay $38 million in bonuses and severance packages to employees as it goes through bankruptcy.
The company is in bankruptcy as it tries to settle 2,600 lawsuits against it over the toll of the country’s opioid epidemic.
It has said it needs to make bonus payments to keep employees at a time of high turnover. A government bankruptcy trustee objected to the request last week, and the bankruptcy judge has scheduled a hearing on the matter.
Thursday’s filings on the bonus question come a day before a deadline on a central matter in the bankruptcy: Whether states can continue their lawsuits against members of the Sackler family, which owns Purdue.