SAI Holdings Limited, Athol Mfg Corp, Sandusky Liq

UNITED STATES BANKRUPTCY COURT
NORTHERN DISTRICT OF OHIO
WESTERN DIVISION
In Re:
SAI Holdings Limited, et al.,
Debtors.
) 	Case No. 06-33227
) 	JOINTLY ADMINISTERED
)
) 	Chapter 11
)
)
) 	JUDGE MARY ANN WHIPPLE
ORDER COMPELLING PAYMENT OF ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSE
The court previously granted by order entered on April 26, 2007 [Doc. #603], the Application of
Dennis E. Dahm for Administrative Expense [Doc. # 529]. The allowed administrative expense was a
$2,500 completion bonus agreed upon by Debtor Athol Manufacturing Corp. in connection with his
temporary assignment to travel from Sandusky, Ohio to be part of a short term transition team working at
the Butner, North Carolina facility. There is no dispute that Mr. Dahm fulfilled the terms of his assignment
and there is no dispute that Debtor entered into the agreement with him in the ordinary course of business.
Mr. Dahm sent a letter to the court stating that the allowed administrative expense claim has not yet
been paid and requesting a further hearing. [Doc. # 603]. The court construes the letter as a motion to
compel payment, thus 	raising the age old question of when administrative expenses allowed under 11
U.S.C. §§ 503(b) and 507(a)(2) can or must be paid in a Chapter 11 case short of the effective date of a
confirmed plan, 11 U.S.C. § 1129(a)(9). The determination of timing of payment is generally left to the
discretion of the bankruptcy court. In re Reams Broadcasting Corp.,153 B.R. 520, 522 (Bankr. N.D. Ohio
The court incorporates by reference in this paragraph and adopts as the findings and orders
of this court the document set forth below. This document has been entered electronically
in the record of the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Ohio.
Dated: August 16 2007
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1993).
Debtor has not paid the administrative expense because of extreme cash limitations. However, other
very substantial administrative expenses have and continue to be paid and nobody can or will say at this
time whether this case is administratively insolvent. Mr. Dahm’s $2,500 claim is relatively small. But he
is also an individual who lost his job and benefits when Debtor Sandusky Limited’s facility closed in
December, 2006, and then again when his temporary assignment ended in March, 2007, when production
abruptly stopped at the Butner facility. The hardship to Mr. Dahm in not getting paid now and waiting out
at a minimum this case’s first birthday is great, while the overall impact on other unpaid administrative
expense claimants should he be paid now and the estate turn out to be administratively insolvent will be
relatively small. Moreover, there has been no principled basis identified by any party for distinguishing
Mr. Dahm’s allowed administrative expense claim, incurred in the ordinary course of Debtor’s business,
as one that should not be paid before confirmation of a plan from one that should 	be paid before
confirmation of a plan. 	He is no different than 	others who have and continue to be paid in providing
valuable human capital necessary to effect an orderly liquidation maximizing the value of these estates. Cf.
Specker Motor Sales v. Eisen, 393 F.3d 659, 664 (6th Cir. 2004).
For these reasons and as otherwise stated on the record at the hearing, good cause appearing,
IT IS ORDERED Dennis Dahm’s motion to compel payment [Doc. #826] is GRANTED and his
administrative expense claim must be paid on or before September 6, 2007.
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