Hancock Sued Over Exec Pay

The suit maintains that the companys plan of reorganization specifically excluded rewarding executives for company performance in the year following its demutualization.

"Moreover, the directors directly benefited from the same improper conduct byaccepting significant compensation, including a substantial increase over the prior year, based on Hancocks stock performance during the prohibited one-year period," the suit says.

In a statement, Hancock says it intends "to defend this nuisance lawsuit vigorously."

None of its officers was compensated for the IPO during its first year as a publicly traded company, the statement maintained.

"The compensation committee made its decisions independently, and all of those decisions were permissible and appropriate under the plan of demutualization," Hancock stated.

Reproduced from National Underwriter Life & Health/Financial Services Edition, June 2, 2003. Copyright 2003 by The National Underwriter Company in the serial publication. All rights reserved. Copyright in this article as an independent work may be held by the author.