How Toys R Us workers got the retailer’s private equity owners to pay severance

The private equity firms Bain and KKR announced this week that they will contribute $20 million to a compensation fund for former employees of Toys R Us. The retailer filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in September 2017, laying off tens of thousands of workers without severance packages. And for months, those former employees have been putting pressure on the company’s private equity owners to pay up.

The workers say the $20 million is a start. But they’re asking for more — $75 million in total, based on the retailer’s severance policies. They’re hoping to get the rest from Toys R Us’ creditors and its other private equity owner, Vornado Realty Trust.

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