Deadline set for laid-off employees to file for severance pay

ST. MARYS - Former Durango-Georgia Paper Co. employees have until March 19 to file individual claims for a portion of severance and vacation pay from the bankrupt south Georgia paper mill. <br> <br> A U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge Lamar Davis on Dec. 23 set the deadline, also ruling that workers owed more than $4,650 will have to wait to collect the remainder of their money. <br> <br> Davis also ordered Durango-Georgia to fully pay all retiree health insurance benefits through Dec. 15, 2002. But the company, which filed for federal bankruptcy protection Nov. 19, no longer has to pay premiums for health insurance. <br> <br> Each retiree will receive a payment equal to three months of COBRA insurance, in which laid-off employees can remain covered by a company&#39;s insurance police. Retirees will be covered until Jan. 31. <br> <br> One of the area&#39;s economic mainstays since World War II, the Camden County mill closed Nov. 15 and left some 900 workers jobless.