Purdue Pharma, facing thousands of lawsuits and bankruptcy, wants to pay ‘certain employees’ $34 million in bonuses

Washington Post logoThe company ‘is not an easy place to work right now,’ its attorneys told the judge.

Officials at troubled drugmaker Purdue Pharma say “certain employees” should be paid more than $34 million in bonuses for meeting and exceeding goals over the last three years, even though the company is facing thousands of lawsuits over its role in the nation’s opioid crisis and earlier this week filed for bankruptcy.

In a legal filing, attorneys for Purdue Pharma asked a judge to authorize millions in payments to employees who have met “target performance goals.”

It is not clear from the company filings why employees would be eligible for bonuses because, while the bonuses are supposed to be partly contingent on the company’s financial performance, the company has filed for bankruptcy.

View the complete September 19 article by Peter Whoriskey on The Washington Post website here.