Warren, AOC Rail at Eddie Lampert for Avoiding Sears' Layoff

Senator Elizabeth Warren, Presidential Candidate, and Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez sent a letter to Sears past President and CEO, Eddie Lampert, congratulating him on his efforts to avoid paying $ 43 million employees of the department store.

Lampert took over Sears from bankruptcy last year through the intermediary of a group member of his hedge fund, ESL Investments, Transform Holdco, after years of decline under his leadership as CEO. CEO and President. The transaction, which saved the company from liquidation, also promised that Lampert would cover severance pay for workers who lost their jobs following bankruptcy.

Sears and Lampert have since quarreled over what each side feels owe of the other as part of the deal. Lampert testified in court that Sears did not have what she owed him. To help offset the loss, he asks the bankruptcy judge for leave to pay $ 43 million in severance pay.

In a letter sent Thursday, Warren, D-Mass., And Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., Rebelled against Lampert.

"If you do not make these payments, it would be like a broken promise on your part and a betrayal of hard-working Sears employees – some of whom have been working for decades – who are counting on the promised layoff pay rent, take care children and put food on the table, "they said.

The two men discussed a written exchange between Lampert and Warren earlier this year, during which the senator became aware of Lampert's plan to buy Sears out of the bankruptcy and viability of retailers in his possession. In its February 19 response, Lampert defended Sears' management and assured Warren that his retailer's purchase agreement would provide severance pay to employees who would lose their jobs after the bankruptcy of the company. October 15 and would not join the company.

"Without the sale to ESL, these employees would not touch anything," Lampert wrote.

But these payments are now in question. In court filings over the past two weeks, Lampert and Sears have been arguing over how the two share the remaining expenses and assets. As part of its Sears acquisition agreement, Lampert had promised Transform to pay up to $ 270 million to cover costs such as severance pay and amounts owed to its suppliers.

But Lampert, through Transform, says he can no longer promise a total of $ 270 million because Sears did not honor its commitments. Transform alleges that Sears did not deliver the prepaid inventory promised, inflated the amount that Transform owes to Sears, did not deliver all of its head office in Illinois, as well as other complaints.

Sears challenges the allegations. She accused Transform of playing hard with Sears as a trading tactic to win more than one company in liquidation. Sears, in court documents, acknowledged that she had not delivered a $ 55 million prepaid stock owed to Transform.

Both parties filed their grievances this week before Judge Robert Drain of the US District Court of the South District of New York, but failed to reach a resolution. Both should have a follow-up hearing later this summer. Drain urged the two to resolve their differences before, offering assistance in arbitration.

"Mediation is not free, but in front of a judge, it's almost free, so think about it," he said.

The two legislators' letter follows a similar investigation to Steven Mnuchin, raising questions about his transition to the Sears board of directors before becoming Treasury Secretary of the Trump administration. The letter was sent about a month after Sears filed a lawsuit against Lampert, Mnuchin and other former board members alleging that they stole billions of dollars from the former titan of the large American distribution. Lampert disputed these claims.