Hit the brakes: Beleaguered car rental giant runs into legal roadblock

Lee County-based car rental giant Hertz Global Holdings, in working its way out of bankruptcy, recently received a scolding from the federal judge overseeing the case.

Hertz, with a headquarters in Estero, had submitted a plan to pay at least 14 executives about $5.4 million in bonuses, with another $9.2 million going to 295 lower-level managers. The proposal, submitted to U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge Mary Walrath, comes four months after the company paid out $16.2 million in retention payments to about 340 employees. Those payments came days before the company’s May 23 bankruptcy filing.