Sears has agreed to set aside $3 million to compensate the beneficiaries of retired employees who died after the bankrupt retailer canceled their life insurance benefits in March, the Chicago Tribune reported. Attorneys representing Hoffman Estates, Ill.-based Sears Holdings and a committee of retirees presented their plan to resolve the dispute over benefits to U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge Robert Drain at a Thursday court hearing. The deal still requires official court approval, but Judge Drain told attorneys it appeared to be “a reasonable settlement.” Sears, which filed for Chapter 11 reorganization last October, ended the roughly 29,000 retired employees’ life insurance benefits shortly after selling most of its remaining assets to Transform Holdco, an entity controlled by Sears’ former CEO and largest shareholder, Edward Lampert, and his hedge fund.
