Yes true ...
Linky Thing: PoliticalFact Article
At the moment, the retention payments that have drawn the most scorn are those to employees in the financial products division, the folks that got the insurance conglomerate into the deep mess it's currently in. Those agreements predate the company bailouts by the federal government. Back in April 2008 and "due to the declining market environment," the company established an employee retention plan with financial products employees "to manage and unwind its complex business," according to SEC filings. An installment payment on those retention bonuses came due on March 15 to the tune of $165 million. That's the payment that triggered the recent political storm.
In a congressional hearing on March 18, Frank asked if those who got retention bonuses and then left had to give back their bonus. "No," Liddy said. "The arrangement is, if you stay, wind down your particular business, do a good job of it, and we're comfortable with the job you've done, you'll get that retention bonus."
The ones who had left had already completed their agreed upon tasks .. thus fulfilling their part of the contract. So, do we honor the contract or let our new group of fearless leaders (Barney Frank, Chris Dodd, et. al.) trash it with a stroke of their greasy little pens?
I don’t think any of them deserve bonuses...and I am not prepared to take Mr. Liddy’s word for this...I want someone to invesigate...much as I would love to know who got these bonuses (many live where I went to High School-Ridgefield CT and Wilton where I once worked so I am very interested to see if I know any of them), it would be wrong because given the anger people feel, these bankers could get hurt...still I want to know the truth. Don’t trust Liddy...he used to run Allstate during the time when they got in trouble for trying to evade legal claims.