U.S. firms shield CEO pay as pandemic hits workers, investors

NEW YORK/BOSTON (Reuters) - Sonic Automotive Inc, which operates 95 U.S. car dealerships, started laying off and furloughing about a third of its workforce as the coronavirus pandemic crushed its sales. Then it changed its executives' pay packages - handing them a multimillion-dollar windfall.On April 10, Sonic's board gave its top executives stock options to replace performance-based share awards, regulatory filings show. The options it gave Chief Executive David Smith, whose family controls..