First published June 10, 2025
In April 2020, Cummins announced a “50% cut” in CEO Norman Tom Linebarger’s base salary as COVID struck. It made a splashy headline: leadership sharing sacrifice. Meanwhile, many employees continued on‑site work through lockdowns, risking their health and that of their families. Peel back the PR veneer and the gaslight appears.
Base salary fell from about $1.575 million to roughly $0.787 million for the period (reuters.com). Industry analysis places Linebarger’s total 2020 pay at around $17.3 million (asyousow.org). Cutting $0.787 million from base pay represents only about 4.5% of his total remuneration. Long‑term equity awards and performance incentives continued vesting on pre‑set schedules.
Do the maths: employees worked through lockdowns under challenging conditions, yet the CEO’s pay‑cut stunt barely nudged a vast package. If Cummins truly meant shared sacrifice, equity vesting would pause or bonuses shrink. Instead, the remuneration machinery carried on largely unchanged.
Compare the narrative to filings. The public hears “CEO took 50% cut”; few probe proxy statements showing total pay remained enormous. Internal morale sours when workers recognise that real sacrifice sits only in announcements. For those who check the figures, the stunt looks like hollow theatre.
This is corporate gaslighting: present a benevolent gesture while hiding the bulk of pay‑outs behind the curtain. The board secures a feel‑good narrative, employees glimpse the disconnect, and stakeholders who examine proxies see the disparity.
What does this reveal about Cummins’ priorities? Stagecraft outweighs substance. A half‑salary announcement signals solidarity yet reward mechanisms stay intact. It exposes a fortress culture where gestures matter more than genuine alignment and where executives emerge largely unscathed while others faced real risk.
Readers and stakeholders deserve the full picture. Next time Cummins touts a “leadership sacrifice”, demand transparency: how were equity awards adjusted? Did performance units slow vesting? Were bonus formulas truly reworked? Inspect total compensation, not just the base‑salary headline.
Cummins can stage a half‑salary announcement to applause. But applause rings hollow when deeper machinery remains unchanged. True accountability means calling out the gaslight, exposing the gap between headline cuts and sustained multi‑million‑dollar payouts. Only then can solidarity move beyond theatre into genuine equity.
Lee Thompson – Founder, The Cummins Accountability Project
Citations:
- Reuters: Cummins slashes CEO pay by 50% while cutting employee salaries during COVID‑19 reuters.com
- As You Sow: industry analysis placing 2020 total compensation near $17.3 million asyousow.org
- Post Journal: proxy data indicating Linebarger’s 2019 total compensation around $25.1 million (for context) post-journal.com