O'Sullivan documents sealed by bankruptcy court judge

A U. S. Bankruptcy Court judge on Friday granted O'Sullivan Industries' officials request that a portion of their agreement with creditors be kept from the public because of its "extremely sensitive" nature.
In documents filed last week in U. S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Georgia, company officials said, "The debtors (O'Sullivan Industries) believe good cause exists in this situation because the sealed documents concern a dispute and confidential settlement thereof, and it is in the best interest of their estates, their creditors, their employees, and other parties-in-interest to file the documents under seal because, if the information detailed in the sealed documents were to become public, it could cause serious harm to the debtors and their estates and could result in numerous frivolous claims being brought against the debtors."
The initial request for the sealing of the documents was filed as an "emergency ex parte motion." Apparently, the public is the major reason the request was made since the document notes, "Although they believe that the information contained in the sealed documents is extremely sensitive, the debtors will provide copies thereof to the court, representatives of the major constituencies in the case, and the office of the United States trustee."
Apparently, a great deal of time has been spent on this confidential settlement since court documents filed Friday have numerous portions that are blackened out.
As reported last week, O'Sullivan Industries has reached an agreement with its creditors which is designed to enable the company to emerge from Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Even though the company no longer has its central headquarters in Lamar, having moved to Roswell, Ga., an Atlanta suburb, to accommodate the host of Newell Rubbermaid refugees it put in charge, it still is a major employer for the city of Lamar and the surrounding area with more than 900 workers.