Former Nortel exec seeks $1B protection from lawsuits

[Newsjock]

Source: CBC News

A former Nortel CEO who took millions with him when he left the company in 2001 wants Nortel to cover up to $1 billion of his costs if he loses a series of class action lawsuits filed by former employees.

John Roth, who was in charge when the company's stock soared in 1999 and 2000, filed a U.S. creditor claim in a U.S. bankruptcy court on Dec. 1 seeking a $1 billion U.S. indemnification from Nortel of his personal assets with respect to those lawsuits. When he left the company he took $130 million with him.

Essentially, Roth is seeking insurance to cover him in case U.S. courts decide he must pay an award to the plaintiffs.

... Laid-off and retired Nortel workers are considered unsecured creditors and are at the back of the line to receive payouts from bankruptcy proceedings, including severance packages, pensions and disability. That means they would have to fight with other creditors for a share of whatever is left of the company in the end.


Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/ottawa/story/2009/12/17/nortel-john-roth-lawsuits.html

[Demeter]

1. The First of Many Clawbacks

and NO Protection for you, Pal. No more than you gave the workers whose backs you broke.