A handful of SunEdison executives caught in a dispute with a government watchdog over their bankruptcy bonuses won a federal judge’s backing yesterday, the Wall Street Journal reported today. Bankruptcy Judge Stuart Bernstein overruled an objection from a U.S. Justice Department watchdog, who claimed 11 SunEdison vice presidents wield too much influence to be eligible for the programs. The judge said that because the 11 employees report to other officers and rely on policies put in place by more senior managers, they don’t qualify as company insiders and their compensation isn’t subject to stricter legal rules governing bankruptcy bonuses. Lawyers for the watchdog, U.S. Trustee William Harrington, said that SunEdison hadn’t revealed enough about the bonus program’s recipients. As senior executives, they said that the 11 employees should be set apart and treated differently than rank-and-file employees.
