Bankruptcy judge 'within days' of decision in Tribune Company case

The judge in Tribune Company's bankruptcy proceeding said Oct 19 that he is "literally within days of issuing an opinion" in the nearly three-year-old Chapter 11 case.

U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Kevin Carey has been deliberating since July over rival restructuring plans proposed by two warring groups of creditors. The hope among weary constituents on all sides of the issue is that an opinion will finally steer the hotly-contentious case toward a resolution. Carey's comments came during a hearing during which the judge approved two interrelated settlements of claims against Tribune brought by the U.S. Internal Revenue Service and the U.S. Department of Labor. Both agencies claimed that the company violated the federal Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) when an employee stock ownership plan purchased company stock as part of Chicago billionaire Sam Zell's complex 2007 buyout of Tribune Co. Tribune will settle both claims by paying $7 million to the IRS to cover $37.5 million in alleged tax liability stemming from the alleged ERISA violations. Carey's approval of the two settlements paves the way for a related settlement of a class action suit brought in U.S. District Court in Chicago by employees of Tribune Co.’s Los Angeles Times newspaper. That settlement, which was awaiting resolution of the IRS issue, will be taken up Oct 24 at a hearing before U.S. District Judge Rebecca Pallmeyer in Chicago.