Exide Technologies (Princeton, NJ) filed suit to recover legal fees paid to the two most senior members of its former management team: former Chairman, President and CEO Arthur Hawkins, and former Executive Vice President and President of North American Operations Douglas Pearson. Both Hawkins and Pearson were forced to resign from Exide in October 1998.
The complaint seeks to recover approximately $1.1 million in legal and defense fees paid by Exide to Hawkins and Pearson. Exide filed a voluntary chapter 11 petition on April 15, 2002. The complaint alleges that Hawkins and Pearson received payments, which allowed them to recover more than similarly situated creditors in the bankruptcy case, and seeks to compel immediate disgorgement of the preferential transfers. The court has scheduled a trial for the lawsuit in August 2002.
Exide has also filed suit against the former officers, seeking to recover amounts it has paid defending and resolving claims related to the conduct of its former management. The cases have been stayed, pending resolution of the criminal case.
