Bankrupt nuclear firm Westinghouse Electric Co. is seeking up to $8.4 million in bonuses for top executives and select employees in order to convince them to stay at the company over the next year, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported today. The Cranberry, Pa.-based firm filed documents with U.S. Bankruptcy Court of the Southern District of New York on Wednesday outlining a “key employee incentive program” that would be largely tied to the company hitting certain earnings targets within the next eight months. Twenty-six employees — 10 senior executives and 16 non-executives — would be eligible to receive between $4.2 million and $8.4 million in bonuses. In addition, the company is seeking to bump up the base salary of CEO Jose Emeterio Gutierrez from $627,000 to $1 million, and that of acting CFO Dan Sumner from $234,000 to $375,000. According to the consultant that Westinghouse hired in July to evaluate compensation, both executives get paid well below their peers at other companies.
