A federal bankruptcy judge has ruled in favor of the Star Tribune's motion to pay in full its severance obligations to 43 former employees who left the company last summer and fall, and whose remaining severance payments were capped by statute at $10,950.

"I'm glad we can pay our former employees as we promised," publisher Chris Harte wrote Friday in a note to employees.

The company's original motion to pay the additional $436,478 to the former employees was opposed by the U.S. Trustee, who said the amount exceeded the maximum severance payments that could be made for those who left the company within 180 days of the bankruptcy filing.

"We're glad for our former members, and also we appreciate the company's willingness to step up and push this issue in the face of objections by the trustee," said Graydon Royce, co-chairman of the Newspaper Guild, which represents 275 newsroom employees.

The 28 union and 15 independent former employees are entitled to additional payments that range from $3,000 to $52,400, depending upon when each left the Star Tribune, their length of service and salary. About 600 employees have departed the Star Tribune since early 2007 amid steep revenue and profitability declines; 1,400 remain.

The news could get grimmer. Harte told employees in a memo Friday that ad revenue declined precipitously in January and announced a continuation of a wage freeze for independent employees, suspension of employer-matching contributions to their 401(k) retirement plans, eliminating all incentive compensation for managers (except advertising sales managers) and other austerity measures.

Neal St. Anthony • 612-673-7144