Hertz Bonuses Rejected by Judge Who Calls Them ‘Offensive’

  • Judge says new payouts come too soon after retention bonuses
  • Hertz can try again after changing metrics to make them harder
Photographer: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg
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Hertz Global Holdings Inc. must change its plan to pay 14 top executives up to $5.4 million in bonuses if it wants win approval for the incentive program, says the judge overseeing the car renter’s bankruptcy.

Judge Mary Walrath sided with opponents of the payouts, who argued that the bonus program comes too soon after $16.2 million in retention money Hertz agreed to hand out to about 340 employees just days before it filed for bankruptcy in May.Bloomberg Terminal Walrath’s order also nixed a new plan that would have split as much as $9.2 million among about 295 lower-ranking managers.