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After government testing showed that scores of consumer products carrying the Energy Star label did not deserve the listing, a wave of class-action lawsuits were filed against the companies that manufacture the products, The New York Times reported today. Now, at least one major manufacturer wants Congress to ban the lawsuits and is threatening to withdraw from Energy Star, an Environmental Protection Agency program, unless it gets its way. However, consumer advocates say that such lawsuits are a healthy form of enforcement. A bill introduced by Rep. Robert Latta (R-Ohio), whose district is home to several Whirlpool factories, would prohibit class-action lawsuits if the EPA came up with a remedy, such as reimbursing consumers for products that did not live up to their billing. The bill is co-sponsored by Rep. Peter Welch (D-Vt.), who is honorary co-chairman of a Washington group, the Alliance to Save Energy, which is also backing the change. The proposed legislation drew immediate opposition from trial lawyers, who say the courts are often the only redress consumers have. Energy Star, which was created in 1992 to identify efficiency among products as varied as refrigerators, washing machines and televisions, as well as light bulbs and computer printers, has been plagued with troubles in recent years.

Court hearings to determine if Energy Future Holdings Corp., Texas's biggest power company, can adopt a refinancing package that is key to its massive bankruptcy have been extended through July 11 from the original schedule to end yesterday, Reuters reported. "I'm worried about that amount of time being sufficient," Judge Christopher Sontchi said at the start of yesterday’s session. "We have a lot of witnesses," said Judge Sontchi, who scheduled time in court on Wednesday and July 10 and July 11. Judge Sontchi is being asked to approve a loan package of about $2 billion to refinance high-yielding debt at Energy Future's EFIH unit, which owns the profitable Oncor power transmission business.

When women’s clothing retailer Coldwater Creek filed for chapter 11 protection in April, the company went out of its way to tell a bankruptcy judge that it planned to continue honoring gift cards and other customer service programs for the purpose of “preserving goodwill and maximizing revenue during the liquidation process,” the Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday. One customer promotion, however, didn’t make the cut — tens of thousands of Groupon deals offering Coldwater Creek shoppers $50 worth of merchandise for $25. In a court filing made on June 18, Groupon — the Chicago-based purveyor of deals on everything from restaurant meals to sky diving adventures — says that Coldwater Creek customers still held $2.8 million in unredeemed vouchers when the retailer went into bankruptcy. Unlike other promotions, the Groupon certificates were no longer accepted after the company’s bankruptcy filing, an attorney for Coldwater Creek confirmed Friday. Since the stores began rejecting the deals, Groupon has issued about $1.29 million in refunds to Coldwater Creek customers, according to its recent filing, and “that amount will continue to increase.”

American Apparel warned yesterday that the abrupt ouster of controversial CEO Dov Charney may pitch the company into bankruptcy by triggering defaults on two outstanding loans, the Los Angeles Times reported today. In an SEC filing, American Apparel said that the board's move to terminate Charney may trigger defaults under credit agreements with Lion/Hollywood and Capital One Business Credit Corp. A default "could cause us to become bankrupt or insolvent," the retailer told the Securities and Exchange Commission. Any acceleration on debt payments "would have a material effect on our liquidity, financial condition and results of operations." As of March 31, American Apparel owed Lion/Hollywood $9.9 million, a loan that matures in 2018, according to filings. The company also owed nearly $30,000 to Capital One in a revolving credit facility. The company is seeking a waiver from the lenders to prevent any default but warned that it has "no assurance" one will be granted on terms on the company can accept, if at all. American Apparel said the loan agreement with Lion/Hollywood specifies that if Charney ceased to be CEO, the lenders can declare all outstanding obligations to be immediately due. American Apparel says that misconduct led to founder Dov Charney's ouster.

Philip Falcone resigned from the board of LightSquared Inc., the bankrupt wireless-spectrum owner he has tried to build into a rival to U.S. mobile providers, amid negotiations with creditors to reorganize the company, Bloomberg News reported yesterday. Falcone and four other people appointed to the board by his Harbinger Capital Partners voluntarily resigned on June 12, according to a letter filed with the Federal Communications Commission and posted on the agency’s website. Falcone had been fighting to keep control of the company throughout its two years in bankruptcy. At one point, Dish Network Corp. Chairman Charles Ergen made a $2.22 billion offer for its assets, only to withdraw the bid at the last minute. Falcone accused Ergen of acquiring LightSquared debt improperly to game the bankruptcy process. Bankruptcy Judge Shelley Chapman rejected a Falcone-backed reorganization plan in May, saying that it was largely unfair to Ergen, while she also faulted Ergen’s behavior during the case. Since then, LightSquared and its creditors have entered court-supervised mediation to work out a new plan.

A judge said that James River Coal Co. can pay up to $2.7 million in bonuses to its top executives, rejecting a challenge to the payments by the federal government’s bankruptcy watchdog, the Wall Street Journal reported today. Bankruptcy Judge Kevin R. Huennekens said yesterday that James River could pay the bonuses to nine top executives and approved a separate set of bonuses for 39 non-executives, with that pool totaling up to $1.4 million. U.S. Trustee Judy A. Robbins objected to the executive bonus plan because Judge Huennekens said that details of the bonuses could be filed confidentially with the court for competitive reasons. Robert B. Van Arsdale, an assistant to Robbins, argued that without publicly disclosing the terms of the packages, it’s impossible to know if they comply with the Bankruptcy Code.

A bankruptcy judge on Friday approved the appointment of a chapter 11 trustee to take control of TelexFree LLC, the company behind an alleged pyramid scheme that promised more than $1 billion in returns to investors around the world, Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review reported today. After reviewing a group of applicants, a Department of Justice representative who oversees bankruptcy cases appointed Stephen Darr, senior managing director at Mesirow Financial Consulting LLC to the position on Thursday, meaning he will make the day-to-day administrative decisions that will determine TelexFree's next steps in the bankruptcy process.

Lawyers for defunct brokerage MF Global yesterday asked a U.S. bankruptcy judge to impose procedures to limit mounting legal fees incurred by Jon Corzine and other former company insiders in litigation over their role in MF's 2011 collapse, Reuters reported yesterday. James Giddens, trustee for MF's former broker-dealer unit, and Bruce Bennett, a lawyer for its defunct parent company, in court papers said that former Chief Executive Officer Corzine, former Chief Operating Officer Bradley Abelow and other ex-insiders are mounting exorbitant legal bills through excessive defense tactics. The filings came in response to requests last month by the insiders for a $10 million increase, from $30 million to $40 million, on the money they are allowed to tap from MF Global insurance policies to fund their defense costs.

During the 12 months before Genco filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy on April 21, Chairman Peter Georgiopoulos received $1.46 million in compensation, plus more than $436,000 in expense reimbursements — the majority of which were for sporting event tickets, according to newly filed court documents, the Wall Street Journal reported today. Georgiopoulos has also faced headwinds with another shipping company where he is chairman: General Maritime Corp., which emerged from bankruptcy in 2012 after lowering its debt and receiving a $175 million investment from Oaktree Capital Management LP. Overall, Genco said that it paid $4.2 million in compensation to six directors, its chairman and two executives during this year-long period, and more than $663,000 in reimbursements for items like travel and lodging to the same group.

A federal judge in New York has revived a $2.3 billion whistleblower lawsuit aimed at Hawker Beechcraft Corp., reversing a bankruptcy court decision that blocked litigation over allegedly defective parts used in planes sold to the U.S. government, the Wall Street Journal reported today. Judge P. Kevin Castel said former employees of a Hawker Beechcraft subcontractor should get a chance to press their federal False Claims Act case against the manufacturer of military aircraft, which filed for chapter 11 protection in May 2012, emerged in 2013, and was sold to Textron Inc. just weeks ago. The decision, which was issued last week, restores the right of Beechcraft whistleblowers to argue in bankruptcy court that they are entitled to attempt to collect damages on behalf of the government for the alleged fraud, despite the confirmed chapter 11 bankruptcy exit plan.