We wrote about Peabody's imminent bankruptcy and what it could mean to taxpayers back in March and June. Peabody's filing follows similar requests from other bankrupt coal companies. Arch Coal Inc., for instance, paid more than $8 million in bonuses to its top executives last January, just days before the company filed for bankruptcy protection after reporting a net loss of more than $2.9 billion for 2015. That same month, a bankruptcy judge in Richmond, Virginia, ruled that Alpha Natural Resources could also pay potential bonuses of up to $11.9 million to senior managers.