Employee stock purchase plan suspended

Planning to buy Lee stock? Participation in the employee stock purchase plan has been suspended. The announcement from corporate:

To Participants in the Employee Stock Purchase Plan (ESPP):

Effective immediately, participation in the ESPP will be suspended indefinitely. No more contributions will be deducted from your pay, and the amount you have contributed during the current ESPP plan year will be refunded by direct deposit on Tuesday, February 17, 2009. The refund will be placed into the bank account you use for regularly scheduled paychecks. If you do not have direct deposit for your pay, a check will be mailed to your home.

This decision by Lee’s Board of Directors was a result of the continued low share price in combination with the predetermined number of shares allocated for purchase. In other words, at the current price, there aren’t enough shares to go around, and most of your contributions would have been refunded at the end of the period, anyway.

Shares you may have purchased from prior years will remain in your Wells Fargo ESPP account. Please contact Wells Fargo Shareowner Services with specific questions regarding your account at 1-800-468-9716 or online at www.wellsfargo.com/shareownerservices.

For any other questions, please contact the Lee HR Center at 877-434-5465 or hr@lee.net.

With best regards,

Jennifer Kivlin
Director, Human Resources

It's not a very sound investment -- the stock closed Friday at 31 cents a share, and has hovered around 30 cents for most of the week. At the March 10 board meeting, Lee will vote on the proposed reverse stock split. Would you vote for it?

Via email.