The leader of New York state’s top financial regulatory agency blasted efforts by Purdue Pharma on Monday to pay out $34 million in bonuses to its employees as part of the company’s bankruptcy proceedings, citing the state’s ongoing investigation into the opioid industry, the New York Law Journal reported. New York Department of Financial Services Superintendent Linda Lacewell urged a federal bankruptcy judge in a letter to reject the company’s request, citing the damage done through the country’s opioid crisis. “Every dollar available should be used to recompense victims, and it would be inequitable, to say the very least, if the amount of the estate left to redress the tremendous harm suffered by those victims was diminished because employees were paid large sums upon exceeding expectations in causing that very harm,” Lacewell wrote. The letter was in response to a filing last week from attorneys for Purdue Pharma, which is seeking to pay out $34 million in bonuses for employees who had exceeded their target performance goals. Bankruptcy Judge Robert Drain of the Southern District of New York is expected to consider the request in October.
