Caesars official says company can’t fund some pension payouts

LAS VEGAS - Caesars Ent. Corporation General Counsel Tim Donovan said Thursday that the company asked its bankruptcy lawyers about finding a way to make pension payments to 63 former employees whose checks were halted in the reorganization of its largest operating division, but the idea was rejected.

Donovan told the Nevada State Gaming Commission in Las Vegas that bankruptcy law does not allow a company in a Chapter 11 reorganization to separate supplemental employee retirement plans from other unsecured creditors.

He said the company was told the bankruptcy judge in Chicago overseeing the case “would not look favorably” upon a motion to pay the retired workers $33 million. “Caesars is not the villain here,” Donovan said. “We’re in a very unfortunate situation.”