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[CazTGG]

For those outside of Canada, you might not have heard of this news, so here's a short rundown: Sears is currently in the middle of a corporate restructure, closing down several of its stores and laying off thousands of employees. Said employees have lost their severance packages while, as revealed by recent court documents, 43 managers will be paid out a total of 7.6 million (about 176,744.19 per manager). This caused a massive backlash against the company, prompting a twitter hashtag campaign #BoycottSearsCanada and several posts on Facebook berating the company's mistreatment of their employees.

Full story: http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/sears-laid-off-restructuring-bonus-1.4204178

 

[shnurgleton]

lol sears

 

[MistakenMobius]

For those outside of Canada, you might not have heard of this news, so here's a short rundown: Sears is currently in the middle of a corporate restructure, closing down several of its stores and laying off thousands of employees. Said employees have lost their severance packages while, as revealed by recent court documents, 43 managers will be paid out a total of 7.6 million (about 176,744.19 per manager). This caused a massive backlash against the company, prompting a twitter hashtag campaign #BoycottSearsCanada and several posts on Facebook berating the company's mistreatment of their employees.

Full story: http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/sears-laid-off-restructuring-bonus-1.4204178

How can they not pay severance packages unilaterally?

 

[Elitist1945]

My friend just got hired by Sears lol, which given the news lately made me ask myself:

Why would you want to work for a company thats probably gonna go bankrupt soon.

Why would a company hire more employees if its probably going bankrupt soon.

 

[thefro]

How can they not pay severance packages unilaterally?

That seems odd to me as well. Vaguely remember people in similar situations in the US at least getting a % of their severance, but those might have been union employees who were also creditors of the company due to being owed pension money and the like.

 

[ahoyhoy]

#BoycottSearsCanada

Sounds like people have already been doing that for years.

 

[NullPointer]

"It's almost like what they took from us, they're giving to the executives downtown."

No almost about it.

 

[geomon]

21st century robber barons.

 

[Fox Mulder]

Retail is dying and the executives aren't going to feel any pain. I'd still be working at Target if they hadn't gutted hours after they pulled out of Canada. I was fine with a lazy job making $800 a paycheck.

The execs got paid for failure and my hours got cut to like half and I couldn't even pay bills. Said fuck it and left.

 

[CazTGG]

Sounds like people have already been doing that for years.

Nice.

 

[Neith]

Those execs deserve jack shit for failing to realize what was happening to retail. Ridiculous. Incompetent. And now paid.

Retail is dying and the executives aren't going to feel any pain. I'd still be working at Target if they hadn't gutted hours after they pulled out of Canada. I was fine with a lazy job making $800 a paycheck.

The execs got paid for failure and my hours got cut to like half and I couldn't even pay bills. Said fuck it and left.

Retail is not dying, it's being reshaped into something more efficient and modern. Retail isn't just going to disappear LOL. But a 1950s mentality no longer serves what the people want.

 

[LastGamer84]

Retail is dying and the executives aren't going to feel any pain. I'd still be working at Target if they hadn't gutted hours after they pulled out of Canada. I was fine with a lazy job making $800 a paycheck.

The execs got paid for failure and my hours got cut to like half and I couldn't even pay bills. Said fuck it and left.

The bolded is why anyone who defends corporate greed needs a logic check. Corporations encourage this sort of behavior, screwing over the people who actually make them money in favor of incompetent management who often times end up costing millions.

And companies wonder why their employees don't give a shit...

 

[Cheerilee]

I saw a short-lived former Sears Canada CEO on the news a couple weeks ago, and he was saying that he identified Sears Canada's main problem almost as soon as he came on board: Sears USA.

Sears USA owns Sears Canada, and every time something starts to crack in Sears Canada they should normally have two options, fill the crack with money, or liquidate that part and use the money to fill other cracks, or pivot and use that money to grow into some sort of new business (like online sales, or something even remotely modern). But Sears Canada has no money, so they only have one choice, liquidate. But once they liquidate anything, Sears USA pops their head in and says "Oh, you have money? We'll be taking that. We need it to fill the cracks in our failing business."

That's why this particular CEO quit. The company has been on a collision course with failure for years, and there's nothing anyone can do about it, not until the company unhooks itself from propping up Sears USA.


The executive bonuses are apparently the only thing holding the company together. If they cut the bonuses, the entire top half of the company will bail the fuck out and the company will die. If the executives can be bribed to stay on, the company might be able to survive long enough for people's pensions (which are "temporarily" stalled) to mean anything.

 

[hokahey]

The executive bonuses are apparently the only thing holding the company together. If they cut the bonuses, the entire top half of the company will bail the fuck out and the company will die. If the executives can be bribed to stay on, the company might be able to survive long enough for people's pensions (which are "temporarily" stalled) to mean anything.

This is a point people often fail to understand. If you want top, smart execs that can lead a business to thrive, you have to pay them. I worked for one of the biggest banks in the world that due to pressure and regulations often paid their higher ups a comparatively modest salary. As a result, they're always leaving to be paid more elsewhere, and the people theyre able to keep are nimrods. Thus perpetuating a cycle of "they pay their execs too much!"

 

[Hycran]

That's why this particular CEO quit. The company has been on a collision course with failure for years, and there's nothing anyone can do about it, not until the company unhooks itself from propping up Sears USA.

.

When i was 16, I worked at Sears as my first ever "Real job". That store was fucking garbage half my life ago, regardless of all of the other stuff that was going on. A shit store with shit people with shitty sycophants in management. Sears will die sooner rather than later, nothing will stop this fate.

 

[MegaManTrigger]

This is a point people often fail to understand. If you want top, smart execs that can lead a business to thrive, you have to pay them. I worked for one of the biggest banks in the world that due to pressure and regulations often paid their higher ups a comparatively modest salary. As a result, they're always leaving to be paid more elsewhere, and the people theyre able to keep are nimrods. Thus perpetuating a cycle of "they pay their execs too much!"

Except in this case, Sears isn't thriving and employees are getting screwed over for doing all of the (hard) work while not getting compensated. Which leaves you wondering what the real value of those execs are.

 

[kirblar]

The management/ownership of Sears USA knows it's dying and is trying to suck as much money out of it as they can before it does.

 

[CazTGG]

This is a point people often fail to understand. If you want top, smart execs that can lead a business to thrive, you have to pay them. I worked for one of the biggest banks in the world that due to pressure and regulations often paid their higher ups a comparatively modest salary. As a result, they're always leaving to be paid more elsewhere, and the people theyre able to keep are nimrods. Thus perpetuating a cycle of "they pay their execs too much!"

They did a bang up job with the amount of stores closing and Sears current state, but hey, let's give them an even larger golden parachute to screw things up while thousands of employees get jack.

It is especially bad because these American corporations don't really care about Canadians. Canada is effectively a 21st centurt US satelitte state

I did it, I found the most uninformed post about Canada on this site.

 

[Madness]

Retail is dying and the executives aren't going to feel any pain. I'd still be working at Target if they hadn't gutted hours after they pulled out of Canada. I was fine with a lazy job making $800 a paycheck.

The execs got paid for failure and my hours got cut to like half and I couldn't even pay bills. Said fuck it and left.

It is especially bad because these American corporations don't really care about Canadians. Canada is effectively a 21st centurt US satelitte state. There isn't a single thing that is really not US owned or dominated. So many happy to shop at Amazon Canada. Wal-Mart, etc. But the decisions and corporate responsibility comes from outside the country.

 

[ghostmind]

Paying bonuses to the same executives that led Sears to this position, so that they can somehow save it, is asinine.

Meanwhile employees that have faithfully worked for the company for decades get screwed out of years of severance, not to mention pension and benefits.

Sears ultimate failure is inevitable, and these latest moves just piss off whatever customer base they have left.

 

[Cheerilee]

Except in this case, Sears isn't thriving and employees are getting screwed over for doing all of the (hard) work while not getting compensated. Which leaves you wondering what the real value of those execs are.

They did a bang up job with the amount of stores closing and Sears current state, but hey, let's give them an even larger golden parachute to screw things up while thousands of employees get jack.

It's easy to say "The company is failing, the guys at the top must all be incompetent and deserve to be fired", but reality is often more complicated than that.

Sears USA has allegedly been mildly failing for decades (refusal to adapt or innovate), but they've been holding their position by sucking money out of Sears Canada. As long as they can do that, their problems don't seem so bad. Sears Canada has allegedly been busting their ass and performing better than they appear to be performing, but the constant drain on their company ties their hands while it negates their victories and makes their losses hit even harder.

Things are pretty bad. The company is literally falling apart. But Sears Canada has identified 43 individuals (who currently want to bail the fuck out of the company because they could do much better elsewhere) as "must keep" individuals, because they're the talented ones currently holding the company's head above water. If the company is to survive, these people are apparently the ones with the potential to find a way to make that happen.

"Those 43 people must suck at their jobs, Sears Canada should fire them" is an ignorant position.

Saying that the company deserves to die because it laid off thousands of people ignores stuff like the pensions (currently not growing) that rely on Sears Canada's continued existence.

Boycotting the company at this point because you're mad that they're dying just seems ridiculous.

 

[shira]

For those outside of Canada, you might not have heard of this news, so here's a short rundown: Sears is currently in the middle of a corporate restructure, closing down several of its stores and laying off thousands of employees. Said employees have lost their severance packages while, as revealed by recent court documents, 43 managers will be paid out a total of 7.6 million (about 176,744.19 per manager). This caused a massive backlash against the company, prompting a twitter hashtag campaign #BoycottSearsCanada and several posts on Facebook berating the company's mistreatment of their employees.

Full story: http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/sears-laid-off-restructuring-bonus-1.4204178

Golden parachute for execs, what else is new

 

[ErasureAcer]

Capitalism working as designed.

 

[mdubs]

Company is just honouring the terms of their (terrible) executive contracts. Can't do much about it

 

[6.8]

My friend just got hired by Sears lol, which given the news lately made me ask myself:

Why would you want to work for a company thats probably gonna go bankrupt soon.

Why would a company hire more employees if its probably going bankrupt soon.

#1 ask her
#2 companies might cut and hire at the same time. It's pretty normal


But yeah. The company has no leadership. Executives should take the hit. Not middle managers or employees.

 

[Linkura]

I remember Sears Holdings corporate trying to recruit me at a job fair back when I was in college (this was over 9 years ago). Guy was nice but... lol, no.

 

[killer rin]

For those outside of Canada, you might not have heard of this news, so here's a short rundown: Sears is currently in the middle of a corporate restructure, closing down several of its stores and laying off thousands of employees. Said employees have lost their severance packages while, as revealed by recent court documents, 43 managers will be paid out a total of 7.6 million (about 176,744.19 per manager). This caused a massive backlash against the company, prompting a twitter hashtag campaign #BoycottSearsCanada and several posts on Facebook berating the company's mistreatment of their employees.

And people wonder why hatred for Capitalism and the 1% is at an all time high

 

[Chairman Yang]

This is a point people often fail to understand. If you want top, smart execs that can lead a business to thrive, you have to pay them. I worked for one of the biggest banks in the world that due to pressure and regulations often paid their higher ups a comparatively modest salary. As a result, they're always leaving to be paid more elsewhere, and the people theyre able to keep are nimrods. Thus perpetuating a cycle of "they pay their execs too much!"

In your opinion, what explains the huge jumps in American executive compensation compared to the past and compared to many other countries? Why has pay risen so out of proportion to company performance or size?

(The Canadian experience is different, of course, but the overall point holds.)

 

[CazTGG]

And people wonder why hatred for Capitalism and the 1% is at an all time high

But guys, think of the poor 43 executives and their six-figure bonus!

It's easy to say "The company is failing, the guys at the top must all be incompetent and deserve to be fired", but reality is often more complicated than that.

Sears USA has allegedly been mildly failing for decades (refusal to adapt or innovate), but they've been holding their position by sucking money out of Sears Canada. As long as they can do that, their problems don't seem so bad. Sears Canada has allegedly been busting their ass and performing better than they appear to be performing, but the constant drain on their company ties their hands while it negates their victories and makes their losses hit even harder.

Things are pretty bad. The company is literally falling apart. But Sears Canada has identified 43 individuals (who currently want to bail the fuck out of the company because they could do much better elsewhere) as "must keep" individuals, because they're the talented ones currently holding the company's head above water. If the company is to survive, these people are apparently the ones with the potential to find a way to make that happen.

"Those 43 people must suck at their jobs, Sears Canada should fire them" is an ignorant position.

Saying that the company deserves to die because it laid off thousands of people ignores stuff like the pensions (currently not growing) that rely on Sears Canada's continued existence.

Boycotting the company at this point because you're mad that they're dying just seems ridiculous.

 

[dgdas9]

I'll use this opportunity to say this:

CEOs and other managers are just that, managers, middle men. They aren't the companies themselves (except of course, if one is privately own, and even then there's some separation at this scale). If you think these companies are wasting money on their managers, you should in theory support that the actual investors, the owners of the corporation, get a bigger say on the way its run.

Put it in another way: the recent 'cash hoarding' on big corporations, or unbelievable bonuses from top level managers are just, in fact, corporate bureaucrats taking hold of a private entity. The only way to stop it is to make sure money can be effectively relocated to where it's most needed.

 

[LinkAndEpona]

I wonder what types of managers are getting some of that pay. Seems like a lot for a store manager to get.

 

[Aselith]

Company is just honouring the terms of their (terrible) executive contracts. Can't do much about it

Severance packages are contracts too. The company is just banking that the lower level employees don't have the money to fight it in court

 

[Cheerilee]

But guys, think of the poor 43 executives and their six-figure bonus!

It's not about "Think of the poor executives", it's about "Think before you shoot yourself in your own foot." Those executives will be fine. They're loaded, and they're apparently skilled enough at management to land well-paying jobs somewhere else (which is allegedly the thing Sears Canada is desperately trying to prevent).

But by all means, grab your torches and pitchforks and burn down Sears Canada's HQ. I'm sure that will restore the jobs lost by thousands of Sears Canada employees, and secure everyone's pensions. [/sarcasm]

 

[FinaruDensetsu]

I don't believe this one bit. Big corporations always use any excess money they have on the little guys, creating more jobs, etc. The president told me so.

 

[Syriel]

In your opinion, what explains the huge jumps in American executive compensation compared to the past and compared to many other countries? Why has pay risen so out of proportion to company performance or size?

(The Canadian experience is different, of course, but the overall point holds.)

1. There has been a big shift to equity compensation (which accounts for much of the big $$$ numbers thrown around). Actual "salary" is often lower.
2. A competitive market for talent has made it not unlike the market for sports stars. When everyone wants the "big names" those names have negotiating power.

But guys, think of the poor 43 executives and their six-figure bonus!

No one is feeling sorry for those 43 execs. What the court realized though is that those 43 execs are likely being heavily recruited by other companies. If they walk, the remaining value in Sears Canada is likely to tank, which is bad news for all creditors.

If they stay, and wind it down properly, the remaining value will be at a higher level. It won't be enough to make all the creditors whole, but it will likely be more than if they all walked.

 

[Linkura]

I wonder what types of managers are getting some of that pay. Seems like a lot for a store manager to get.

Corporate.

 

[Dr. Benton Quest]

It's not about "Think of the poor executives", it's about "Think before you shoot yourself in your own foot." Those executives will be fine. They're loaded, and they're apparently skilled enough at management to land well-paying jobs somewhere else (which is allegedly the thing Sears Canada is desperately trying to prevent).

But by all means, grab your torches and pitchforks and burn down Sears Canada's HQ. I'm sure that will restore the jobs lost by thousands of Sears Canada employees, and secure everyone's pensions. [/sarcasm]

You seem to think that Sears owes its existence to management and not labor. Sears is dying because of poor management. These 'hot shots' will be gone in a year or two regardless, and the laborer who gave a decade of their life to Sears will still have nothing.

 

[Cheerilee]

You seem to think that Sears owes its existence to management and not labor. Sears is dying because of poor management. These 'hot shots' will be gone in a year or two regardless, and the laborer who gave a decade of their life to Sears will still have nothing.

I think that Sears Canada, contrary to the kneejerk reaction provoked by their imminent death, is being competently managed, perhaps even exceptionally well managed. I think they're being dragged down by a much larger parent corporation who is unwilling to innovate (and according to one of their former CEOs who resigned in frustration, Sears Canada wants to innovate but their hands are being tied), and so long as Sears USA lives longer than Sears Canada, Sears USA doesn't care.

I think that when Sears Canada identifies 43 specific people (not all executives in general) as being essential to the survival of Sears Canada, then that probably means something, and it's probably in Sears Canada's best interests to try and stop those people from bailing and getting jobs for more successful companies.

I think layoffs are really terrible. I think laying off management instead of the workers is an idea floated by people with no concept of reality, and that sort of recklessness results in everybody losing their jobs, as opposed to some painfully large percentage.

 

[Syriel]

I think that when Sears Canada identifies 43 specific people (not all executives in general) as being essential to the survival of Sears Canada, then that probably means something, and it's probably in Sears Canada's best interests to try and stop those people from bailing and getting jobs for more successful companies.

It's also not just Sears Canada making that decision.

Everyone criticizing Sears in this thread keeps ignoring the fact that this decision was approved by the court.

This wasn't just Sears management going "WE GUN GIT PAID!"

This is part of a court approved plan, so the decision would have been vetted before being approved.

 

[MegaManTrigger]

It's easy to say "The company is failing, the guys at the top must all be incompetent and deserve to be fired", but reality is often more complicated than that.

Sears USA has allegedly been mildly failing for decades (refusal to adapt or innovate), but they've been holding their position by sucking money out of Sears Canada. As long as they can do that, their problems don't seem so bad. Sears Canada has allegedly been busting their ass and performing better than they appear to be performing, but the constant drain on their company ties their hands while it negates their victories and makes their losses hit even harder.

Even then, that still proves that someone higher up in Sears USA is making the stupid decision to siphon money away from the Canadian entity to the American entity. Also, I don't buy that they've performed better considering that their losses are still high and piling up from previous losses (2016 numbers are worse than 2015's for instance, and in general, they've been losing money for a long time). It seems like Sears USA is becoming an easy target to blame (even if they are siphoning money) to take attention away from their actual performance. Moreover, Sears Canada has also had problems with refusal to innovate and adapt as more and more clothing stores ate up the market share that Sears Canada had before.

Things are pretty bad. The company is literally falling apart. But Sears Canada has identified 43 individuals (who currently want to bail the fuck out of the company because they could do much better elsewhere) as "must keep" individuals, because they're the talented ones currently holding the company's head above water. If the company is to survive, these people are apparently the ones with the potential to find a way to make that happen.

"Those 43 people must suck at their jobs, Sears Canada should fire them" is an ignorant position.

Saying that the company deserves to die because it laid off thousands of people ignores stuff like the pensions (currently not growing) that rely on Sears Canada's continued existence.

Boycotting the company at this point because you're mad that they're dying just seems ridiculous.

As I said in the previous quote, with the way the losses have been piling up almost annually, there's no argument you can make that they're holding their heads above the water, especially now that they have to close 54 of their stores (not including that they had to close flagship stores in attractive locations like Downtown Toronto prior to this year, or how miserable the USA entity is doing, especially considering the troubles with KMart).

Also, that's a strawman you're making. It's not that the executives should be fired, but in no way is it fair that they get the lion's share of the compensation while the employees are slaving away trying to get things done and not even getting severance packages/plus getting gimped pensions. That's a "shoot yourself in the foot" move as you'll only spark discontent and potentially lose even more of the workforce before starting liquidation. As someone who's been through liquidation at the employee level, people bail out ASAP because they stopped giving a fuck, which only increases workload + frustrations for everyone else. At that point, it won't even matter that Sears is struggling when they don't have a workforce to carry out the executive plans. Now that you mention pensions, you do realize that Sears originally was going to stop paying pensions to their workers and instead had to compromise and pay up until the end of September? Those people that spent years and retired are still getting screwed over relative to the time they put in.

It's also not just Sears Canada making that decision.

Everyone criticizing Sears in this thread keeps ignoring the fact that this decision was approved by the court.

This wasn't just Sears management going "WE GUN GIT PAID!"

This is part of a court approved plan, so the decision would have been vetted before being approved.

Just because it was approved by court, doesn't mean it's exempt from criticism. The court vetting and making the decision they did points to a larger problem with how little the government has thought about the people in the workforce. Sears isn't the only company either. There was Target that masqueraded "severance" as wages and played the PR machine, and now Sears with taking away pensions + severage packages.

 

[Cheerilee]

Even then, that still proves that someone higher up in Sears USA is making the stupid decision to siphon money away from the Canadian entity to the American entity. Also, I don't buy that they've performed better considering that their losses are still high and piling up from previous losses (2016 numbers are worse than 2015's for instance, and in general, they've been losing money for a long time). It seems like Sears USA is becoming an easy target to blame (even if they are siphoning money) to take attention away from their actual performance. Moreover, Sears Canada has also had problems with refusal to innovate and adapt as more and more clothing stores ate up the market share that Sears Canada had before.

I was going by what what said on TV by a former Sears Canada CEO with nothing to lose (he's currently teaching business in some Canadian university).

He said that he went into Sears Canada wondering why it was stagnating, with a plan to bring it into the modern age. He looked at the books and saw that the problem was that Sears USA was regularly taking money out of Sears Canada to cover their own losses (as they have the right to do, being the owners of Sears Canada). But it was okay, because there was still enough value left in Sears Canada for him to work with. He wasn't there for even a year before Sears USA wrecked his plans by sucking money out again with no warning. He asked them "Hey, can you not do that? I need stable books if I'm to fix this wreck and turn the company around and earn you massive amounts of money." One year later, they raided Sears Canada again. So he fucking quit.

His assessment (on TV) was that Sears Canada is still not hopeless (even though it's much worse off now than it was when he left), if they can manage to unhook from Sears USA and get sold to owners who don't treat them like a vampire would, they can turn things around and become profitable again, but that becomes more challenging with every passing year.

Now that you mention pensions, you do realize that Sears originally was going to stop paying pensions to their workers and instead had to compromise and pay up until the end of September? Those people that spent years and retired are still getting screwed over relative to the time they put in.

IIRC, Sears Canada was asking to temporarily stop putting money into the pension fund (not directly stop paying pensions), as a way to try and save the company. Because the death of Sears Canada means a permanent end to the flow of money into that fund.

The company is fucking dying and people think a boycott is going to solve things.

 

[To Far Away Times]

Well, it turns out if you never spend any money on your stores and they turn to shit, people will stop going. This is why companies should have a long term outlook at not only look ahead as far ahead as next quarter's financials.

 

[Linkura]

Well, it turns out if you never spend any money on your stores and they turn to shit, people will stop going. This is why companies should have a long term outlook at not only look ahead as far ahead as next quarter's financials.

Their CEO is gutting the company for his own purposes. That's why they don't invest in the stores.

 

[Opto]

Their CEO is gutting the company for his own purposes. That's why they don't invest in the stores.

Yeah isn't he just doing everything possible to legally kill the business to grab up the land rights to the then empty stores?

 

[Linkura]

Yeah isn't he just doing everything possible to legally kill the business to grab up the land rights to the then empty stores?

Yeah, the real reason they're even still around is because they own the stores/land themselves, which is very rare in retail.

 

[jstripes]

Their CEO is gutting the company for his own purposes. That's why they don't invest in the stores.

This is the problem right here. The current CEO of Sears in the States bought and merged Sears and Kmart with the intention of keeping them on perpetual life support so he could suck the blood out of them. He has no intention of improving them. The chains are slowly falling apart, but it's part of a larger plan where he personally profits off of it and loses nothing in the end.

This comes back around to Sears Canada, where even though they're semi-autonomous, anything they do to improve is hamstrung by the owners in the US. This has been known for a few years now.

That said, even though Sears Canada appears to be doing better than its US counterpart, it's still a relic of the '80s that can't really exist today in its current form.

 

[MegaManTrigger]

Interesting how this is shaping up now:

Former and current employees of Sears Canada have filed a legal motion in an attempt to stop dozens of company executives from splitting $7.6 million in retention bonuses while many laid-off workers miss out on severance payments.

In court documents, lawyers for the employees call the bonus pay ”excessive" after 2,900 employees from 59 stores were let go in June.

But former Sears Canada CEO Mark Cohen told CTV News the workers deserve more support from their employer.

"I would protect the employment of the folks working in stores. I don't know that I would protect the employment of executives who, frankly, are in no small measure responsible for this problem," Cohen said.

After news of the layoffs, numerous stories emerged of long-time employees suddenly being given pink slips. Josee Nadeau, a sales associate for more than 30 years, was out of a job with no severance pay.

”Zero, zero. Nothing," Nadeau said.

http://www.ctvnews.ca/business/outg...y-to-stop-7-6m-in-bonuses-for-execs-1.3522461

The more I hear about this, the more I cannot understand how you can defend Sears doing what they're doing to employees, and furthermore, the larger problem of how unprotected these employees are with regards to federal and provincial laws. Frankly, there's no sympathy for these executives when they're not the front-line workers slaving away shitty dollars per hour just to do their [executives'] bidding. There's certainly enough PR damage that experts are already questioning whether liquidation will get them the most value now that it's underway.