Because, well, you know - they did such a great job in running the company into the ground.

Washington Times:

Now seems an unlikely time for handing out bonuses at bankrupt Solyndra LLC, but that's the plan of company attorneys intending to dole out up to a half-million dollars to persuade key employees to stay put.

Nearly two dozen Solyndra employees could receive bonuses ranging from $10,000 to $50,000 each under a proposal filed by Solyndra's attorneys in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware.

The attorneys say the extra money will add motivation at a time when workers at the solar company have little job security and more responsibilities because so many of their colleagues have been fired.

The names of the bonus-eligible employees are not disclosed in the court filings that outline the bonus proposal. None of the employees is among the so-called corporate "insiders" - top officers or members of the board of directors, records show.

The proposed bonus recipients include nine equipment engineers, six general business and finance employees and up to two information technology workers.

I'm all for incentives to reward employees for good work, but giving bonuses to executives from a failed company? They are using the same argument AIG and the big banks were using when they handed out a couple of billion in bonuses; we have to keep the smart people or someone else will grab them.

I don't buy it. Employees will stay if they feel their prospects are going to continue to be solid. Bribing employees to stay with a sinking ship seems like a waste of money.