Thread regarding Sears layoffs

Ch 11 is not a get out of jail free card. You still have to properly represent your fiduciaries, not commit fraud, avoid conflicts, avoid self-deaiing, deal in good faith with various parties, and not unjustly enrich yourself at the expense of the parties you serve. Even if you're the biggest shareholder, you also owe obligations and certain duties to minority shareholders, and also duties to not waste the wealth of the creditors. You also need to have done these things the whole time you were CEO/CFO. It's virtually impossible to do all these things at the same time. Trying to wear these hats at the same time is almost an automatic go to jail free card, which is why most advisers will tell you to not where them if you can help it, because the conflicts that arise are frequently irreconcilable. When Sears closes a deal with Seritage where he's the chairman of both companies, and Sears stock goes down by a billion while Seritage's goes up by a billion immediately afterwards, that's a smoking gun where the thing speaks for itself.

@jld - you’re obviously not familiar with Jeff Conaway, the CEO of Kmart just before it filed BK (the first time). He got sued and fined by the SEC for statements he made publicly before filing for BK. You see, as CEO, they have responsibility and liability for their comments and actions. Eddie is not immune to liability or lawsuits. The avalanche of litigation has only just begun.

Don't you guys have roughly eleventy dozen docket filings to be reading instead of goofing around on this forum? Better yet, can you summarize them so I don't have to?

Yup. I honestly can't think of a single person in any case who's on the surface done more to throw away his corporate liability protection than Lampert. He's wearing way too many hats in this shindig. Conflict conflict everywhere. There's double dealing, and this is more like quintuple dealing. You could write ethical casebooks on this orgy of a sh--show. I don't know about Canadian corporate veils, but the number of attorneys who've been involved in American corporate veil piercing who are party to the Sears bankruptcy could fill a book of their own. Heckfire, the conflicts attorneys in this case are well known academics. Lampert's in a heap of trouble.

@jld Oh, so you're an expert on Canadian corporate veil piercing? Corporate liability protection only helps if you maintain your transactions at arm's distance, and work to the benefit of the parties you serve. And Eddie completely missed that point. There's this little thing called conflict of interest you may have heard about, and fiduciary duty. And placing the interest of the company ahead of those of others. Could Eddie do that while he was Chairman, and CEO, and landlord (Seritage), and creditor/vulture capitalist (ESL)? Those debts to the Candian pensioners were obligations he inherited and owed, not ones he gets to make poof and go away, which he happily paid billions into the pockets of ESL, Seritage, and his own pockets. I bet the Candians, who are legit socialists would looooove to find to test the waters of Canadian justice.

The whole point of incorporation is so that you don't have personal liability. The chances of reaching directly into Eddie's pocket are zero. May take a few million in legal fees to get to this, but there is zero chance he will be personally liable for pensions. Zero.

No wonder Eddie had to step down as CEO. He probably spends 12 hours a day talking to his thousand dollar an hour lawyers about all the people suing him. I wonder if one of his companies ever sued another of his companies because they forgot to check that they have the same client.

ESL isn't in CH 11! Open Season!

When it comes ( still in ch 11 so gotta wait ) but when it hits I hope he loses BIG TIME ---- READ AS: Hundreds of millions of dinero 👌👌😎