Bankrupt company lavishes funds on P.R.

At a time when they were drawing up papers designed to eliminate health insurance benefits for former employees, O'Sullivan Industries officials paid a $50,000 retainer to a public relations expert to help them put a positive spin on the bankruptcy.
As The Turner Report detailed Saturday, part of the plan proposed by million-dollar CEO Bob Parker and his core group of former Newell Rubbermaid executives calls for all severance contracts and retirement agreements with former company officials to be shelved because they are causing a financial hardship for the company. U. S. Bankruptcy Court documents indicate the company owes in excess of $132 million. The benefits it is asking the bankruptcy court judge to eliminate amount to approximately $1.3 million.
Court documents indicate O'Sullivan officials are asking the judge for permission to hire p.r. consultant Edward Howard, saying that his "professional fees for the services provided would be between $80 per hour and $420 per hour, depending on the staff member assigned to the project."
And that's not all. "The debtors would be billed for necessary out-of-pocket expenses incurred in connection with such services." Of course, those rates may go even higher, the documents said. "Edward Howard's rates are generally revised periodically and would be billed as necessitated by its computer software billing program."
Just in case any legal problems arise out of the Howard firm's representation of O'Sullivan Industries, the company would also be required to pay its legal costs, the documents indicate.
The services to be provided by Howard are spelled out in the court documents. "Edward Howard is skilled in providing communications consulting services in restructurings and reorganizations. It is (our) understanding that Edward Howard provides strategic counseling in corporate relations, financial relations, and public affairs and has experience serving as a public relations consultant to Chapter 11 debtors in the automotive, chemical, home decor, retail pharmaceutical, steel, and technological industries, among others."
The company's past client list includes: Revco Drug Stores, Borden Chemicals, Advanced Lighting Technologies, and A. B. Dick Company.