Federal bankruptcy monitors say that Orchard Supply Hardware Corp.’s top leaders are in line for bonuses that are “quite large, and excessive” for executives of a troubled chain being auctioned off in bankruptcy, Dow Jones Newswires reported yesterday. Orchard’s bonus proposal could create a pool of more than $3 million to be shared among five senior executives, with 40 percent of the pool earmarked for Chief Executive Mark Baker, court papers say. DLA Piper LLP’s Richard Chesley, attorney for Orchard, said the company would file a response shortly to the criticism from U.S. Trustee Roberta A. DeAngelis, who is pressing the company to provide more proof the bonuses are necessary to push leaders to perform in a way that drives up the sale price. Additionally, DeAngelis took exception to a smaller pool, some $515,000, being set aside to be split up as a reward to some 25 employees, people Orchard says aren’t insiders.
