Enron Seeks Court OK for Employee Bonuses

Enron Corp. asked a U.S. judge to approve as much as $43.2 million in incentive and severance bonuses to keep 600 employees from defecting while it reorganizes.

The bonus proposal is the third Enron has offered since filing for bankruptcy protection on Dec. 2, 2001. U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge Arthur Gonzalez in Manhattan in April 2002 approved as much as $140 million in bonuses to more than 1,700 executives and managers. In January 2003, he allowed $29 million in payments to 700 workers. That bonus program expires Feb. 27.

Enron’s latest proposal comes a day before Gonzalez is scheduled to consider whether to approve the Houston-based company’s bankruptcy plan disclosure statement, a 629-page description of its strategy for exiting Chapter 11.

If approved, the bonus plan would last through 2005 and include $29 million in incentive bonuses for workers payable at the end of each quarter.