Former Tribune, Times Mirror executives, editors sue shareholders

A group of former publishers, executives and editors of the Tribune Company and Times Mirror filed suit against major shareholders who benefited from the $8.2 billion takeover of the media conglomerate. The group is seeking to recover $109 million in retirement benefits that were stripped after the company that publishes the Los Angeles Times and the Chicago Tribune filed for bankruptcy in the wake of the buyout, which had enriched some shareholders.

The buyout deal in 2007 “lined the pockets of certain Tribune insiders and controlling shareholders with billions of dollars” while rendering Tribune insolvent, or nearly so, according to a copy of one of the lawsuits. Burdened by debt incurred during the buyout, Tribune filed for bankruptcy in 2008. The retirees named in the lawsuit — most of them from Times Mirror, which merged with Tribune in 2000 — were told after the bankruptcy that their retirement payouts would be suspended. The plaintiffs “gave their lives” to the company, the lawsuit says, and were relying on those retirement plans. But the buyout deal, which nearly doubled the company’s debt, led Tribune to file for the bankruptcy. The plaintiffs “had the rug pulled out from under them,” the lawsuit said.