After axing 50,000 workers at a variety of companies, notoriously ruthless Al "Chainsaw" Dunlap, former chairman and CEO of Sunbeam Corp., finds himself battling for bucks.
Five months into a three-year, $70 million contract, Sunbeam's board unanimously booted Dunlap on Monday as the company's stock plunged to a record low of less than $16 a share, and earnings plummeted in the first half of 1998 in the aftermath of 1997, when the company was profitable mostly because of accounting changes.
Now Sunbeam and Dunlap are arguing over whether he is entitled to his contract's severance deal, which could provide $2 million a year through 2001, full medical benefits, a car, and a country club membership.
