T.H. Lee $1 Million for Workers Called ‘Grossly Inadequate’
- Bankrupt furniture chain’s fired staff spurn owner’s offer
- It’s $400 a worker at most, from a $26 billion firm, they say
Photographer: Ty Wright/Bloomberg
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Workers laid off from Thomas H. Lee Partners LP’s Midwestern chain Art Van Furniture Inc. called a $1 million relief fund the firm is setting up for them “grossly inadequate,” in the latest example of protests against failed retailers owned by private equity investors.
Each of the 3,100 Art Van employees who lost their jobs and health benefits amid the economic turmoil of the pandemic lockdown would get only $320 to $400, far less than the average cost of three months of family health care coverage on the open market, the workers said in a letter to the Boston-based firm on Monday. They asked for at least $1,500 per former employee.