Mallinckrodt PLC recently changed its severance-package policy to allow for departing executives of the drug company to receive lump-sum payouts instead of installment payments, and ensuring the policy endures should it change ownership structure, such as liquidating or reorganizing, filings show, the Wall Street Journal reported. The drugmaker, whose stock is down some 90 percent this year, previously hired restructuring experts as it faces several challenges, including trying to resolve thousands of lawsuits over its alleged role in helping start the nation’s opioid crisis. A subcommittee of Mallinckrodt’s board of directors recently revised compensation and benefits for executives in the case of “involuntary termination of employment for any reason other than ‘cause,’ ” according to a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing made last week. The changes include ensuring more than a year of salary upfront rather than installment payments for its C-suite, including two years of salary for the chief executive. The new policy can’t be revised during the period from about two months before any change to ownership structure — such as a sale, merger or reorganization — until two years afterward, according to the filing.
