Almost eight years after the Eaton's department store chain collapsed in bankruptcy, the race is on to find almost 6,000 former employees who are owed more than a million dollars.

If they don't claim their share of the company's liquidated assets, they will lose all rights to the money.

The T. Eaton Co. was founded by Timothy Eaton in 1869. His employees gave the Eaton family this statue of the founder in 1919. The company went bankrupt in 1999 and almost 6,000 former employees are still owed money.
(CBC)

Eaton's liquidator and a Toronto law firm have spent the last eight years tracking down 30,000 former Eaton's employees and retirees to give them a share of the proceedings from the bankruptcy.

So far, they've found and paid more than $60 million to 24,000 people. But they've had no luck tracking down 5,900 people who are owed $1.14 million. Their dividend cheques were either uncashed or returned to the liquidator, RSM Richter. One former employee is owed more than $17,000.

Eligible creditors are getting 52 cents on the dollar for their claims. In the case of employees or retirees who have since died, their estates and beneficiaries are entitled to the payments.

There is an important proviso — claimants must come forward by July 13, 2007, to claim their money. After that, the money will be divided among other creditors whose addresses are known.

"Many Eaton's employees and retirees went through some very difficult times as a result of the collapse of Eaton's in 1999, and some have never recovered financially," said Andrew Hatnay, a lawyer at the firm of Koskie Minsky in Toronto.

"It would be a shame if the missing employees and retirees or their beneficiaries did not receive money that is rightfully theirs."

A website has been set up to allow eligible employees and retirees to enter their names and other data to confirm eligibility. The link is at the top right of this page.