Judge OKs Emporium liquidation.Byline: Edward Russo The Register-Guard U.S. Bankruptcy Court bankruptcy court n. the specialized Federal court in which bankruptcy matters under the Federal Bankruptcy Act are conducted. There are several bankruptcy courts in each state, and each one's territory covers several counties. Judge Albert Radcliffe on Wednesday approved Emporium's plan to pay creditors, including the retail chain's founder, Dallas Troutman. Radcliffe signed off on bankrupt Emporium's settlement with Troutman after hearing that it was in the best interest of Emporium's many unsecured creditors Unsecured Creditor An individual or institution that lends money without obtaining specified assets as collateral. This poses a higher risk to the creditor because they have nothing to fall back on should the borrower default on the loan. A debenture holder is an unsecured creditor. , who are owed about $24 million. The company's secured creditors One who holds some special monetary assurance of payment of a debt owed to him or her, such as a mortgage, collateral, or lien. - two finance companies - were paid in full earlier this year. Under the deal, Troutman is likely to receive about $1 million. An article in Tuesday's Register-Guard had an incorrect estimate of how much Troutman would get. During testimony in Eugene on Wednesday, it also was revealed that Emporium's creditors will receive about 81 cents on the dollar, much higher than previous estimates, which put the payment at about 60 cents. Emporium, which filed for bankruptcy last December, wants to make a first payment to creditors by year end, with a follow-up payment next year. In approving the liquidation The collection of assets belonging to a debtor to be applied to the discharge of his or her outstanding debts. A type of proceeding pursuant to federal Bankruptcy plan, Radcliffe commended Emporium and its team of lawyers and advisers for the relatively high payoff. "A distribution of 81 percent for general unsecured creditors is nothing less than superb," he said. The judge also said Emporium deserved credit for being ready to make a first payment to unsecured creditors less than a year after filing for bankruptcy. Emporium, staggering under debt, had closed all of its clothing stores by last spring. Most of the firm's $24 million debt is owed to unsecured creditors, including Troutman, clothing manufacturers, equipment suppliers, media outlets and former salaried employees. Troutman will receive an estimated 81 percent of $1.1 million, or $891,000; $75,000 for rent, and about $47,000 in severance The act of dividing, or the state of being divided. The term severance has unique meanings in different branches of the law. Courts use the term in both civil and criminal litigation in two ways: first, when dividing a lawsuit into two or more parts, and second, when , for a total of $1.013 million. Other disputes are still simmering, however, including claims of several dozen former salaried employees who are seeking more severance pay Severance Pay Compensation that an employer gives to someone who is about to lose their job. Notes: Severance pay is not always paid to employees. It depends on the situation in which the employee is losing their job and whether legislation requires severance to be paid. than what the Emporium estate has proposed. Plus, many of those employees want additional payments, alleging the firm violated vi·o·late tr.v. vi·o·lat·ed, vi·o·lat·ing, vi·o·lates 1. To break or disregard (a law or promise, for example). 2. To assault (a person) sexually. 3. federal labor laws labor law, legislation dealing with human beings in their capacity as workers or wage earners. The Industrial Revolution, by introducing the machine and factory production, greatly expanded the class of workers dependent on wages as their source of income. by not giving them 60 days advance notice that they would lose their jobs. Attorneys for the estate and Emporium's committee of unsecured creditors told Radcliffe that the settlement with the 73-year-old Troutman was one of the reasons the expected payment level climbed to 81 cents on the dollar. Troutman had claimed the estate owed him $3.8 million for his roles as Emporium's executive, landlord and lender. The sides settled on about $1 million after two months of negotiations between Troutman and Emporium's biggest unsecured creditors. |
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