Judge doesn’t have it in him to make a decision

I concur. We need more letters!! I have sent mine in, and there are some excellent ones there, but I am surprised there are not hundreds of letters… If anyone reading this blog has not sent in a letter, DO IT NOW!!

I really dug into the details this week, and I’m afraid we don’t have much of a legal leg to stand on. And I’ve been fighting for this from the beginning, so it’s not without sadness that I say this:

– only the first $10,000 of salaries and wages owed may be considered ‘priority’, the rest are ‘unsecured’
– it’s not an administrative expense, so there is no reason for it to be paid during the bankruptcy process

I’ll tell you when the priority payments may be paid, and document the references to back up my findings, but you have to click through to http://st4rbux.wordpress.com/2009/07/18/bankruptcy-catch-22/

I heard from the BE hotline there was a hearing today, anyone heard any truth to this or if correct heard anything from it?

To All U.S. Employees and Those Who Recently Left the Business:

I’m writing with important updates on our business transition. First and foremost, I’m pleased to report that we have received a positive ruling from the Court regarding payment of severance and Paid Time Off (PTO) for employees and MDs who leave, or who recently left, the business.

As you’ll recall, a group of our creditors had asked the Court to reverse its prior approval of the company’s continued payment of severance and PTO. We’re pleased that we have reached an agreement with our creditors and received Court approval to use our cash collateral for these employee programs, with some conditions. Here’s what this means for our people.

First, our severance policy remains in full effect and will continue to be deemed an “administrative” claim. This is important because administrative claims are paid as they come due and, therefore, in many instances are paid before other creditors. As the Court directed in May, we will continue to make payments in regular increments during an employee’s severance period, consistent with our normal payroll cycle, rather than in a lump-sum payment.

Second, we also can pay employees who leave the business for their unused, accrued Paid Time Off. Specifically, we have been authorized to make payments up to $4 million per month with the anticipation that all PTO amounts due to employees will be paid in full by no later than December 31, 2009. These payments are contingent upon closing remaining asset sales, such as the sale of our EMEA practice. The exact formula for payouts will be communicated within the next several days.

(Source: email from Ed Harbach as of 8:43am 7/24/09)