/raid1/www/Hosts/bankrupt/CAR_Public/000602.MBX
C L A S S A C T I O N R E P O R T E R
Friday, June 2, 2000, Vol. 2, No. 107
Headlines
AMEX: Cardholder Sue over flight points with Canadian Airlines
ASBESTOS LITIGATION: Ex-Bank Workers Claim Cancer Deaths from Exposure
CELERIS CORP: Faces Securities Litigation in Minnesota
CELERIS CORP: Under SEC Investigation Re Financial Restatement
CHARLES SCHWAB: Broker Tries to Settle Customers' 5 year Old Case
CYBER-CARE, INC: Lowey Dannenberg Files Securities Lawsuit in Florida
CYBER-CARE, INC: Schiffrin & Barroway Files Securities Suit in Florida
DEPT OF CHILDREN: Foster Care Settlement Aims to Improve System
FEDERAL RESERVE: Class Size Cut in Bank Employment Discrimination Case
HMO: Aetna in Talks to Sell Division to Dutch ING Group
HOLOCAUST VICTIMS: Holocaust Denier Irving Finds Support in California
HOLOCAUST VICTIMS: Talks Focus on Legal Closure for German Firms
INGRAM BARGE: To Pay for Chemicals Leaked into Mississippi River in '97
MAY DEPARTMENT: Former Employees Sue in Washington for OT Pay
PACIFIC DUNLOP: Pacemarker Settlement Approved by Court in Australia
RAILS-TO-TRAILS: Landowners along Buffalo-Freeport Trail Fight on
RED CROSS: Canadian Samples to Determine Compensation to Donors
REDDI BRAKE: Settlement for '97 Stockholder Suit Made Last Year Pending
SC PARTNERSHIP: Lawsuits over Nevada's Seven Hills Golf Course Settled
TR-STATE PLANT: Files for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy in Wake of Leak Lawsuit
U S WEST: Mistrial Declared in Employment Discirmination Case
WATER CONTAMINATION: Ontario Premier Vows Full Inquiry into E. Coli
*********
AMEX: Cardholder Sue over flight points with Canadian Airlines
--------------------------------------------------------------
American Express and Amex Bank of Canada are facing a class action suit
from a frequent flyer upset over the handling of his cancelled points
program with Canadian Airlines.
Pat Blandford, a Toronto financial consultant, launched the suit claiming
Amex has not honoured a companion ticket voucher issued to its Platinum
Card holders. The voucher normally entitles the holder to a free ticket.
In April, Canadian broke off its frequent flyer point program with Amex
because the two were unable to renegotiate a satisfactory deal in light of
Canadian's restructuring.
'The suit is based on breach of contract,' said Malcolm Ruby of the law
firm of Gowling, Strathy & Henderson, who is filing the notice of class
action on behalf of Mr. Blandford. 'We believe there may be as many as
10,000 other Amex Platinum Card holders feeling as unjustly treated as Mr.
Blandford.' (National Post (formerly The Financial Post), June 01, 2000)
ASBESTOS LITIGATION: Ex-Bank Workers Claim Cancer Deaths from Exposure
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Former workers at an old bank building in central Perth have raised
concerns about exposure to asbestos after the cancer deaths of at least 26
of their colleagues. At least 13 other people who worked at the R and I
Bank headquarters in Barrack Street between the early 1960s and 1995, when
it was demolished, are known to have contracted cancers.
But they have been told they cannot launch any class action unless they can
prove links between the building and cancers other than mesothelioma,
pleural plaques or lung cancer related to asbestos.
Those who have died include a man and several women with breast cancer and
also cases of bowel cancer. The 13 self-described "survivors" had breast,
lymph and ovarian cancers. Former R and I process worker Rosalie Clitheroe,
43, diagnosed a year ago with lymphoma, is hoping people will come forward
and help her compile documentation that may establish a pattern of illness
through the building. Ms Clitheroe, who worked in the building between 1973
and 1980, said she was mainly concerned that former workers be made aware
of the possible link so they could be tested for cancers and receive
preventive medicines. "I want every person that worked in that building to
know the dangers they've been exposed to. They don't know," Ms Clitheroe
said today. "Asbestos used to fall down from the ceiling onto people's
desks."
Of Ms Clitheroe's small work group of four, two former colleagues had died
of cancer and she now had cancer. She and a former colleague conducted a
ring-around of the people they remembered from 20 years ago, establishing
26 people had died from and 13 were "survivors" of cancer. As she searched
for clues to explain the "extraordinary" incidences of cancer, Ms Clitheroe
said she was made aware of a letter sent to bank workers in 1984 by the
then-Australian Bank Employees Union saying there was asbestos in the
building. However, she left in 1980 to have a baby so never received any
such advice. She said she had walked past the building when it was being
demolished in 1995, and saw rubbish double-bagged and sealed with 'caution
asbestos'. Ms Clitheroe is now having chemotherapy for her lymphoma.
Asbestos Diseases Society president Robert Vojakovic said he had helped
settle compensation claims for two ceiling sprayers and a plasterer of the
building, all of whom had since died of mesothelioma. Another former worker
had told him the building's air-conditioning conduits had to be fortified
with asbestos, and that labourers had sprayed the building for 17 weeks,
during office hours, after it opened in 1960. Mr Vojakovic said the
spraying had been carried out despite sufficient knowledge existing at that
time about the adverse effects of asbestos. He said eminent pathologist Sir
Rodney Willox had undertaken to research any link between current cancers
from the workers occupying the building and exposure to asbsestos. Other
workers in the old building were employed at the Crown Law offices and the
then Forestries Department. (AAP Newsfeed, June 1, 2000)
CELERIS CORP: Faces Securities Litigation in Minnesota
------------------------------------------------------
Celeris Corp, formerly known as Summit Medical Systems, Inc. mentions in
its report to the SEC that the company is a defendant in In Re Summit
Medical Systems, Inc. Securities Litigation, a consolidated federal court
securities action venued in the United States District Court, District of
Minnesota. The putative class action was filed on March 10, 1997 and
alleges violations of Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934,
as amended and Rule 10b-5, Section 20(a) of the Exchange Act, Section 11 of
the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 15 of the Securities
Act.
CELERIS CORP: Under SEC Investigation Re Financial Restatement
--------------------------------------------------------------
The Company reveals in its filing with the Securities and Exchange
Commission that the Enforcement Division of the Commission is conducting an
investigation of the Company, relating to the Company's restatement of
certain financial statements. The Company says it is cooperating fully with
the Commission and its investigation. There can be no assurance that any
order, decree or other action issued or taken by the Commission arising out
of its investigation will not result in sanctions against the Company or
certain individuals that could have a material adverse effect on the
Company or its business.
The Company is a defendant in a federal court securities action captioned
Teachers' Retirement System Of Louisiana V. Summit Medical Systems, Inc.
Et. Al. The Teachers' Retirement action was filed on April 16, 1997 in the
United States District Court, District of Minnesota and is not a class
action. In addition to the claims alleged in the consolidated action, the
Teachers' Retirement complaint alleges a claim under Section 18(a) of the
Exchange Act, common law fraud, and negligent misrepresentation. Each
action alleges, in essence, that the Company made misleading public
disclosures relating to its financial statements and seeks compensatory
damages for losses incurred as a result of each alleged misleading public
disclosure. As to federal securities law claims, both actions are subject
to the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (the "Reform Act").
The actions do not state the monetary damages that are being sought at this
time. The Company intends to defend against these actions vigorously.
CHARLES SCHWAB: Broker Tries to Settle Customers' 5 year Old Case
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Charles Schwab Corp. is trying to settle a long-running lawsuit, which
includes millions of current and former customers, with a proposal that
would provide no money or discounted trades for investors.
The proposed settlement involves a class-action suit filed five years ago
in Louisiana that later was combined with another suit covering Schwab
customers nationwide.
Investors alleged that the discount broker did not always route buy and
sell orders to market-makers with the best prices and failed to disclose
payments it received from such firms, which execute the trades. Schwab
denied any wrongdoing and said it agreed to attempt a settlement to end the
litigation.
In the proposed settlement, Schwab would spend as much as $5 million over
the next four years on new computerized programs that improve the way it
processes buy and sell orders and $10 million to educate investors about
such leases. Schwab also would provide more information about its routing
policies.
U.S. District Judge Charles Schwartz is now deciding whether the proposal
is fair. At a recent hearing, proponents and opponents of the proposed
settlement made their cases before the judge.
Two paid experts, including former Securities and Exchange Commission
member Charles Cox, said they believe the suit's allegations have little
merit. There is no evidence that Schwab's practices cost the plaintiffs any
money, they said.
Some of the plaintiffs are pushing the settlement. "We negotiated this
settlement over a year, and we got real tangible benefits for the class and
real changes Schwab is making to benefit investors," said Randall Smith, a
New Orleans attorney for the customers. "If we would have gotten $15 or $20
million in cash, it would be about $2 a person, as opposed to everyone
getting the benefit of better information and technology in a case that had
a lot problems."
About two dozen customers have objected to the proposal and want the judge
to take the case to trial.
Attorneys for investors told Schwartz that the benefits are deceptive and
do not really give investors anything of real value. Schwab would have made
the improvements without the suit, the attorneys claimed. Schwab denied
that and said the new procedures would go far beyond any regulatory
requirements The class includes investors who were customers between 1985
and mid-1999. (The Associated Press State & Local Wire, June 1, 2000)
CYBER-CARE, INC: Lowey Dannenberg Files Securities Lawsuit in Florida
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Lowey Dannenberg Bemporad & Selinger, P.C. has filed a securities class
action lawsuit in the United States District Court for the Southern
District of Florida against CyberCare, Inc. (NasdaqNM: "CYBR") and certain
officers and directors of the Company on behalf of purchasers of CyberCare
common stock during the period October 12, 1999 through May 19, 2000,
inclusive (the "Class Period").
Plaintiff's complaint alleges that defendants violated the federal
securities laws by issuing a series of false and misleading statements to
the investing public concerning the business and financial operations of
CyberCare. In particular, defendants misrepresented that CyberCare's
Electronic Housecall ("EHC") system was "market-ready" and that the Company
had received hundreds of thousands of orders for the product, when in fact,
the FDA had not yet approved the EHC system for marketing or sale, any
agreement to sell the system would violate FDA regulations prior to
approval, and demand for the EHC system consisted mainly of vague
expressions of interest by entities that lacked the wherewithal to acquire
the system. These misstatements are alleged to have inflated the price of
CyberCare common stock purchased by investors during the Class Period.
Contact: Lowey Dannenberg Bemporad & Selinger, P.C. David Harrison,
914/997-0500
CYBER-CARE, INC: Schiffrin & Barroway Files Securities Suit in Florida
----------------------------------------------------------------------
The law firm of Schiffrin & Barroway, LLP announced tha a class action
lawsuit was filed in the United States District Court for the Southern
District of Florida on behalf of all purchasers of the common stock of
Cyber-Care, Inc. (Nasdaq: CYBR) from November 4, 1999 through May 12, 2000
inclusive (the "Class Period").
The complaint charges Cyber-Care and certain of its officers and directors
with issuing materially false and misleading information regarding the
development and sale of its Electronic HouseCall System ("EHS") during the
Class Period. Specifically, defendants failed to disclose that EHS had not
received FDA approval, in violation of FDA rules.
Cyber-Care allegedly manipulated its stock price by misrepresenting the EHS
contracts as involving Internet technology, rather than disclosing that the
contracts involved non-Internet systems which may not have required FDA
approval. This was done to allegedly benefit from the market's strong
reaction to all Internet related businesses, and resulted in artificially
inflating the market price of the Company's common stock during the Class
Period.
Contact: Schiffrin & Barroway, LLP Marc A. Topaz, Esq. Robert B. Weiser,
Esq. 888/299-7706 (toll free) or 610/667-7706 e-mail: info@sbclasslaw.com
DEPT OF CHILDREN: Foster Care Settlement Aims to Improve System
---------------------------------------------------------------
More than three months after plaintiffs' attorneys and state social
services officials pledged a safer foster care system for Broward County
children, a federal judge on Wednesday approved their out-of-court
agreement.
The class action lawsuit, filed almost 20 months ago by the nonprofit Youth
Law Center, alleged the Department of Children & Families violated
children's rights by failing to protect them from physical abuse, sexual
abuse and neglect while in the state's care.
The settlement, announced Feb. 15, details what the Department of Children
& Families must do in the next 18 months to improve the system. The
agreement also outlines a unique relationship between the two parties, in
which they stop being adversaries and start working as allies.
One dissenter -- who formally objected to the settlement at the hearing
held in front of U.S. District Judge Federico Moreno in Miami -- nicked the
otherwise united front presented by lawyers and child welfare
professionals.
"I think it's disgusting," said a mother of three children, who have been
involved in Broward County's foster care system for more than six years.
The Sun-Sentinel is withholding her name to protect her children's privacy.
The mother's 9-year-old son was molested by teens while in foster care. He
also endured chronic ear infections that went untreated. Her 8-year-old
daughter suffered a broken arm in another home. Bothnow live in
out-of-state residential treatment facilities. The boy's mental health has
deteriorated to such an extent, he sometimes screams for no apparent reason
while on the phone with his mother. "He's just angry," she said. "That's
all he is is angry, angry about everything, anything." The mother's
youngest child, who is 3, remains in a Broward foster home. She doubts a
settlement will make a difference for the 1,500 children in Broward
County's foster care system.
But Howard Talenfeld, one of the children's attorneys, said he's
optimistic. "Children in foster care will be safer if the department
vigilantly implements the agreement," he said. He added he's seen sincere
efforts by state Secretary Kathleen Kearney, a former Broward dependency
judge, and Broward District Administrator Phyllis Scott to do just that.
So far, the department has focused heavily on redesigning the way children
travel through the foster care system -- from entering a shelter to either
being adopted or returned to their families. The department also is paying
close attention to making sure foster parents get all the information they
need up front so they know how to handle the children in their home.
Meanwhile, to ease the enormous burden on the district's child welfare
administrator, Jim Walker, Scott is interviewing candidates to take over
part of his job, said Eva Coblentz, a department spokeswoman.
Under the new system, Walker will continue to oversee the department's
foster care program while the new person will concentrate on helping the
community eventually take over the whole child welfare department. State
law mandates foster care must be transferred to the private sector by 2003.
(Sun-Sentinel (Fort Lauderdale, FL), June 1, 2000)
FEDERAL RESERVE: Class Size Cut in Bank Employment Discrimination Case
----------------------------------------------------------------------
The number of potential plaintiffs in a class-action lawsuit alleging
racial discrimination at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago has been cut
roughly in half. A decision this week by U.S. District Judge William
Hibbler in Chicago reduces the potential class from more than 2,000 current
and former Chicago Fed employees to roughly 700 to 1,200, according to
Edward T. Stein, the plaintiffs' attorney. That means the $50 million to
$100 million in compensatory damages the plaintiffs had sought could be cut
in half as well, Stein said.
Hibbler ruled that the previous class--African-Americans employed by the
Chicago Fed at any point from 1964 to the present--was too broad, and he
changed it to include only African-Americans who are or were employed
between Feb. 26, 1996, and the present. The new time frame is based on a
statute of limitations that dates backward from the 1998 filing of the
lawsuit by 14 named plaintiffs.
In earlier court filings, the plaintiffs say they were victims of "a
pervasive pattern" of discrimination. They pointed to several incidents in
which they say they were denied promotions, demoted and subjected to
heightened scrutiny of their work compared with non-black workers.
But in this week's ruling, Hibbler also said the class can contain only
non-managers in the bank's Chicago office who say they were passed over for
promotions.
The bank's Chicago office employs 1,555 people, and its other offices--in
Des Moines, Detroit, Indianapolis, Milwaukee and Peoria--have about 600
employees. Heffner did not have a breakdown of employees by race.
Stein said he might ask the court to expand the class beyond the Chicago
office and to allow named plaintiffs to make claims dating to 1964. "We
alleged that the reason we could go back to 1964 was because there was a
continuing violation of plaintiffs' rights from 1964, and they weren't
aware they had a cause of action until 1998," Stein said. Stein has six
months to complete discovery for the case. No trial date has been set.
(Chicago Tribune, June 1, 2000)
HMO: Aetna in Talks to Sell Division to Dutch ING Group
-------------------------------------------------------
Aetna Inc., the nation's largest health insurer, is in talks to sell its
financial services and international divisions to Dutch financial giant ING
Group. The move would enable Aetna to focus on fixing its troubled managed
care business.
ING, an Amsterdam-based investment bank and insurer, had attempted to buy
all of Aetna in March in a joint bid with California managed care operator
Wellpoint Health Networks Inc. That $70-a-share offer, worth about $10
billion, was rejected as too low.
With Aetna stock up more than 20 percent since March, Wall Street
anticipated an attractive offer for Aetna's financial services and
international businesses. Shares of Aetna rose $2.25 to $69 in early
trading today on the New York Stock Exchange.
ING is offering between $8.5 to $9 billion for the units, according to a
large Aetna institutional investor who spoke on condition of anonymity.
The Aetna Financial Service unit sells annuities and pension plans as well
as providing pension and retirement plan management services. The Aetna
International unit sells health and life insurance and financial planning
services in Asia, the Pacific Rim, and South America. The two divisions had
combined revenue of about $2.3 billion in 1999, compared to about $18.5
billion for Aetna's health business.
Since rejecting the ING-Wellpoint takeover bid, Aetna has been trying to
sell much of its international business and spin off its financial services
and health insurance business into separate publicly traded companies.
Aetna officials pursued that strategy after little success in selling both
health insurance and pension plans to big corporations.
''We have previously said that we intended to separate Aetna's Global
Financial Services business into an independent publicly traded company,
and this still remains a viable option,'' said William H. Donaldson,
Aetna's chairman and chief executive. ''However, we also said that we would
review and consider other legitimate opportunities presented to us.''
Donaldson said Aetna is now working with ING on a new proposal. Meanwhile,
Aetna's health care business faces problems including class-action
lawsuits, rising drug costs and discontent among doctors and hospitals. It
is unclear what Aetna would do with its health care business if it sells
its other divisions. Donaldson was noncommittal as to whether the health
care business would also eventually hit the auction block. ''We remain
committed to our stated goal of improving Aetna U.S. Healthcare's
leadership position, financial performance and relationships with
physicians, hospitals and patients,'' he said.
Some institutional investors said they hoped Aetna would sell itself
completely because just selling the financial services and international
businesses would yield a huge tax bill for the company. Some said if Aetna
can clean up its health care business, the company would attract buyers as
well. (AP Online, June 1, 2000)
HOLOCAUST VICTIMS: Holocaust Denier Irving Finds Support in California
----------------------------------------------------------------------David
Irving launched a three-month speaking and fundraising tour of the United
States over the weekend by meeting with some of the top names among fellow
Holocaust deniers.
Following a celebrated trial that ended in April, Irving was judged by a
British court to be an anti-Semite, racist and associate of neo-Nazis. He
did not disguise the severity of his defeat.
"It's rather like when you're beaten in school," he told some 140
sympathizers at a secret location in Irvine in southern California,
according to an extensive report in the Los Angeles Times. At the same
time, Irving struck a defiant pose. Describing the verdict as "a great
injustice," he likened himself to a David, temporarily defeated by the
Goliath of Jewish wealth and power.
He declared that American historian Deborah Lipstadt, whom Irving sued for
libel, had received $ 6 million for her legal defense, contributed by
filmmaker Steven Spielberg, business executive Edgar Bronfman Jr., and
others. Lipstadt said in Los Angeles last month that the trial costs had
come to about $ 3 million for her publisher and $ 1.5 million for herself.
She said that the Jewish community had not paid for her legal expenses or
loss of income.
The weekend meeting was organized by the California- based Institute for
Historical Review, a center of Holocaust denial for more than two decades.
Participants included an international array of activists, such as Arthur
Butz (US), Robert Faurisson (France), Germar Rudolf (Germany), and Ernst
Zundel (Canada), the Times reported. Although the meeting was not
publicized in advance, the proceedings were carried live on the Internet to
nearly 2,500 viewers, organizers claimed.
Another speaker was former northern California Congressman Pete McCloskey,
who has brought a class-action suit against the Anti-Defamation League,
claiming that the organization spied illegally on US citizens critical of
Israel.
McCloskey's participation was denounced by Rabbi Abraham Cooper, associate
dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, who said that his "appearance under
the same tent as someone who has just been crowned the leading intellectual
Jew-hater in the world, I guess speaks volumes."
The news story on the meeting in the Times, and the wording of the
headlines, were strongly criticized by noted Holocaust scholar Michael
Berenbaum. The newspaper had been faulted at the beginning of the Lipstadt
trial for seemingly giving equal credibility to the overwhelming historical
evidence on the Holocaust and a fringe group of deniers, or self-described
"revisionists."
In a letter to the Times, Berenbaum wrote that "Once again, the Los Angeles
Times has allowed itself to be used as a propaganda instrument for
Holocaust denial... You call Irving a controversial historian. He is not
controversial. He is discredited and disgraced." Berenbaum charged that the
Times story "portrays the deniers as persecuted lambs who are harassed
because of their ideas... You can't seem to get the story right. Why?" (The
Jerusalem Post, June 1, 2000)
HOLOCAUST VICTIMS: Talks Focus on Legal Closure for German Firms
----------------------------------------------------------------
German industry demanded stronger guarantees of legal protection from the
U.S. government in exchange for compensating victims of Nazi-era slave and
forced labor, extending negotiations that they had hoped to have wrapped up
Thursday in time for U.S. President Bill Clinton's trip to Berlin.
Leading German companies including DaimlerChrysler, Bayer and Deutsche Bank
formed the fund last year under pressure from class-action lawsuits in the
United States. In return, they have insisted on broad legal security, a
guarantee that will be backed by a first-of-its-kind executive statement
from the U.S. government to be filed in courts where cases arise.
After clearing hurdles of how much the fund will be 10 billion marks (dlrs
4.8 billion), split equally by German government and industry and how to
divide up that money, the negotiations have stalled over the wording of
Washington's legal promise.
Wolfgang Gibowski, spokesman for the German industry fund, said the
companies want more than a statement of political will but actual legal
arguments, including citations from case law, that will persuade judges to
turn cases over to the foundation. ''President Clinton promised
all-embracing, long-enduring legal peace,'' Gibowski said. ''Legal peace
means more than political words legal peace means substantial legal
arguments, that's what we are looking for.''
But a senior U.S. diplomat participating in the talks, speaking on
condition his name not be used, said ''very strong'' guarantees are already
in the text of the agreement. ''It is that issue of 100 percent security
that is sought we have offered 99 percent security,'' the official said,
adding that no court has yet made a ruling that goes against German firms
in the Nazi labor issue.
Clinton was to arrive in Berlin for a three-day visit that includes a
summit with world leaders. Negotiators had hoped to have an agreement in
time for the trip so that Clinton and Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder could
sign it.
Gibowski didn't rule out that an agreement could still come in time for the
leaders to sign something.
Nearly 2,400 German companies have pledged around 3 billion marks ($ 1.4
billion) to the fund, still short of the industry's 5 billion mark (dlrs
2.4 billion) share. Compensation is to go to long-forgotten surviving
victims of Nazi labor policies more than 1 million people, including
concentration camp detainees whose work was expected to kill them and
eastern Europeans deported to Germany to replace workers sent off to war.
Individuals who suffered the most would receive payments of up to 15,000
marks ($ 7,200) each. (AP Worldstream, June 1, 2000)
INGRAM BARGE: To Pay for Chemicals Leaked into Mississippi River in '97
-----------------------------------------------------------------------Thousands
of people who sued when an overturned Tennessee-owned barge leaked
chemicals into the Mississippi River in 1997 would get between $200 and
$7,000 as part of a proposed settlement, a lawyer says. More than 17,000
people would split the $40.5 million settlement reached with Ingram Barge
Co. of Nashville, Tenn., which owned the barge involved in the March 1997
accident on the flood-swollen river, attorney Walter Dumas said.
The accident prompted authorities to evacuate some areas in East and West
Baton Rouge parishes. Many people sued, claiming a noxious blue haze
generated by leaking chemicals caused health problems.
"The real news here is that the river and its neighbors are safe, and the
marine industry continues its efforts to assure that this type of accident
won't happen again," Ingram Barge spokesman Keel Hunt said Wednesday in
Nashville. "Ingram remains of the belief that no one was seriously hurt as
a result of this accident. There was a real possibility, however, that we
would have been tied up in multiple courts for years to come, and we didn't
want or need that sort of distraction from tending to our main business."
Ingram and its insurance company would pay the settlement to resolve the
class action lawsuit, Dumas said Tuesday. Ingram Barge is owned by the
Martha Ingram family of Nashville. It is one of the family's many business
interests.
Claimants started getting letters last week telling them how much money
they would get. However, U.S. District Judge John Parker must approve the
settlement at a July 24 hearing before any money can be paid, Dumas said.
"If the court approves of the settlement, we can issue checks about 30 days
after the hearing," he said. People unhappy with the settlement would have
up to 30 days to object, Dumas said.
There are 93 claimant attorneys involved in the case, Dumas said. Money
from the $40.5 million settlement has been set aside for their legal fees,
Dumas said. He could not say how much the attorneys will get. The judge has
the final say over whether the attorney fees are reasonable. Dumas stressed
that people will get the amount of money reported in the letters they
receive. Legal fees won't be taken out of those amounts, he said.
About 60,000 gallons of a toluene-benzene mixture leaked into the river
after a barge broke loose from its tow and capsized. A blue haze drifted
over downtown Baton Rouge and parts of West Baton Rouge Parish for days
after the accident.
State environmental officials said the leaking chemicals contributed to the
matter, but could not pinpoint the cause of the haze.
In November 1999, Parker set geographic boundaries in East and West Baton
Rouge parishes for the area from which valid claims could arise. People in
Port Allen would get higher checks, for the most part, Dumas said. "People
in Port Allen had the highest readings for benzene and toluene," he said.
People will be paid based on their potential level of exposure, Dumas said.
Some in Port Allen were evacuated twice from their homes. Hundreds of
people sought medical attention for nausea, burning throats and other signs
of chemical exposure, authorities said at the time. Dumas said most of the
complaints were for respiratory problems. Other people reported their
pre-existing sinus and asthma problems were made worse. Dumas said no
claimants are still suffering from exposure to the chemicals.
Dumas, who represented 4,000 claimants, said the settlement would clear up
all the claims against Ingram. (The Associated Press State & Local Wire,
May 31, 2000)
MAY DEPARTMENT: Former Employees Sue in Washington for OT Pay
-------------------------------------------------------------
May Co. is sued on overtime pay May Department Stores Co. is being sued by
former employees who allege the company's Hecht's stores denied employees
overtime pay in violation of the wage provisions of the federal Fair Labor
Standards Act. The lawsuit was filed Wednesday in federal court in
Washington. It claims Hecht's intentionally misclassifies assistant buyers
and other employees as executives, making them ineligible for overtime pay.
The lawsuit seeks unpaid wages and attorney fees, and requests class-action
status. Company spokeswoman Rhonda West declined comment on the pending
litigation. (St. Louis Post-Dispatch, June 1, 2000)
PACIFIC DUNLOP: Pacemarker Settlement Approved by Court in Australia
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Pacific Dunlop Ltd said late last month that the Federal Court had approved
the terms of a local settlement of litigation arising out of complaints
about its Accufix Atrial J pacemaker leads. PacDun announced in February
that agreement in principle had been reached to settle the remaining
litigation in Australia arising out of the allegedly faulty leads. That was
five years since the first law suits were launched against PacDun's United
States subsidiary Telectronics Pacing Systems Inc.
PacDun said the Federal Court sitting in Sydney gave its approval in May to
the terms of the settlement resolving the claims of those Australian
patients with working Accufix Atrial J pacing leads. The settlement
provides that the patients with working pacing leads will receive $3000.
The claims of those patients were not resolved in the settlement reached by
PacDun's insurers in August 1998, resolving the claim of those patients
whose leads had been surgically removed.
Litigation has yet to be finally settled in the United States.
Five appeals were lodged in the US in April last year over a class action
settlement covering all current and future claims of patients implanted
with the leads, which allegedly caused some deaths and serious injury. The
appeals were against a US court's decision to approve a $168 million
settlement, which included the establishment of a $93.5 million patient
benefit fund. (AAP News World Reporter (TM), Friday, May 19, 2000)
RAILS-TO-TRAILS: Landowners along Buffalo-Freeport Trail Fight on
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Kassie and Larry Treadway don't sit on their front porch anymore. Even
their dog stays inside the house. Their lives have changed because their
front door is 60 feet from a public recreation trail. Larry Treadway said
hikers and bikers using the trail will stop and ask to use the phone, for a
glass of water or even to use the bathroom. "It's a total loss of privacy,"
Kassie Treadway said. "You just feel like someone is walking through your
front yard."
Some landowners who live along the Buffalo-Freeport Community Trail have
been fighting against the trail since 1994, claiming that the property is
theirs. Their battle to regain control of the land will resume in Butler
County Common Pleas Court July 5. They will ask President Judge Martin
O'Brien to allow them to block the trail while legal battles over ownership
continue.
The trail was formerly a Conrail line. When the railroad abandoned its
easement, the land reverted to the owners, or so they thought. Buffalo,
Jefferson and Winfield townships each paid $ 30,000 in 1991 to a salvage
company for what they say is a deed to the 20.7-mile trail.
Six years ago, the Treadways put up a fence to keep people off the trail.
Other homeowners used boulders and other obstructions. On May 5, Butler
County Judge Thomas Doerr granted Buffalo's request for a preliminary order
allowing the township to remove the obstructions.
Township officials said they were concerned that the barriers would block
emergency vehicles that might need to get to the trail. The landowners
contend there are alternate routes.
Approximately one mile of the trail was blocked in two places and,
consequently, has not been maintained. The section north of Great Belt Road
is overgrown with weeds and barely passable. The packed limestone surface
has disappeared. Jefferson is responsible for maintaining the trail, but a
township official said nothing is being done until the litigation is
settled.
Attorney William C. Smith of McCandless is representing 25 landowners who
filed suit against Buffalo, Jefferson and Winfield townships over the
trail. O'Brien heard testimony May 24 on the homeowners' request to lift
Doerr's order, and will resume the hearing July 5.
Commonwealth Court ruled that the suit could not be tried as a class action
rather, homeowners would have to pursue their claims individually. The
homeowners have appealed that ruling to the state Supreme Court.
Smith said he is working on a similar case in Armstrong County. He said
property owners have won hundreds of cases across the country involving
abandonment of railroad rights of way. (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, June 1,
2000)
RED CROSS: Canadian Samples to Determine Compensation to Donors
---------------------------------------------------------------
About 1 million stored blood samples will be tested for hepatitis C in an
ambitious effort to determine which Canadians are eligible to share in a $
1.2 billion federal-provincial government settlement. Canadian Blood
Services, which took over the handling of the country's blood supply from
the Canadian Red Cross after the tainted-blood scandal of the late 1980s,
will try to help victims trace their disease to a specific unit of infected
blood.
Although it isn't clear why the donated blood samples were originally
frozen, then stored in Toronto and Winnipeg, they are now considered
critical evidence in confirming who contracted hepatitis C through
transfusions.
Those among the estimated 200,000 Canadians who did contract the deadly
liver ailment through the blood system must show proof that the infection
occurred during the January 1986 to July 1990 period for which Ottawa has
accepted responsibility.
Traceback Process
Potential compensation recipients - application forms will be mailed to
them April 25 - must rely on hospital records to verify the date of their
transfusion and on old Red Cross records to identify the donor of the blood
used.
Whenever the unit can be matched with one of the stored samples, it will be
possible to confirm if the donor was infected. If not, then it will be
necessary to locate the donor and test him or her - if the donor isn't
impossible to track down, unwilling to be tested or dead.
The so-called traceback process is time consuming and difficult since it is
largely based on paper records, some of which are often missing. To meet
the high demand, Canadian Blood Services has hired 10 new staff members at
a cost of $ 625,000 to work strictly on tracebacks.
The procedures are necessary, according to one of the lawyers representing
hepatitis C victims in Ontario. "Obviously, there's a degree of due
diligence that has to be done," class action attorney Harvey Strosberg
said. "The person who says: 'I've got HCV [hepatitis C virus] and I was
infected in the class period,' you can't pay just on the basis of that," he
argued. "There has to be objective evidence." (Mealey's Emerging Drugs &
Devices, April 20, 2000)
REDDI BRAKE: Settlement for '97 Stockholder Suit Made Last Year Pending
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
On November 6, 1997, a class action lawsuit McCormick, et al., v. Reddi
Brake Supply Corporation., et al. was filed in the Los Angeles County
Superior Court on behalf of all persons or entities who bought common stock
of Reddi Brake prior to March 23, 1996, and/or who bought or sold any
shares thereafter until August 13, 1996, excluding defendants, their
families, employees, agents or assigns. The complaint asserts causes of
action for breach of fiduciary duty by officers and director and conspiracy
to manipulate the price of the common stock of the defendant. The Reddi
Brake Defendants has denied the claims plaintiffs in the litigation. The
parties to the litigation have entered into a Stipulation of Settlement
dated May 21, 1999, dismissing the litigation with prejudice. The
Stipulation of Settlement provides that the Plaintiffs will release the
Company from a $20 million judgement if the Company and individual
defendants assign any and all rights for insurance coverage to the
Plaintiffs. As of the date of this report, May 8, the settlement offer
remains pending.
SC PARTNERSHIP: Lawsuits over Nevada's Seven Hills Golf Course Settled
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Silver Canyon Partnership, a Nevada limited partnership originally owned
55% by Granite Development Partnership and 45% by Silver Canyon Corporation
("SCC"), is owner and developer of Seven Hills, an approximately 1,300 acre
master planned community located outside Las Vegas, Nevada. Granite
Development Partnership is the owner of Granite Silver Development
Partners, L.P. the managing partner in Silver Canyon Partnership.
In Henderson, Nevada, SC Partnership is developing the Seven Hills project
next to a golf course. As revealed in Granite Development's report to the
SEC, five lawsuits have been filed relating to the right to play on the
golf course. A class action lawsuit that was filed by the current
homeowners in the Seven Hills project against SC Partnership and the golf
course developers, among others, was settled in November 1999.
The owner of the golf course had filed a cross-claim against Granite
Development Partnership, SC Partnership, and other entities. This lawsuit
was settled in March 2000.
Certain production homebuilding companies at Seven Hills had also filed
suits. SC Partnership settled with one of these production home building
companies in March 2000. The remaining two suits have been settled in
principal, but the settlement documents have not been executed.
Approximately $6,600,000 was paid or accrued for litigation and legal
expenses during 1999 related to the above lawsuits.
TR-STATE PLANT: Files for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy in Wake of Leak Lawsuit
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
A fertilizer company accused of negligence for an ammonia leak that sent 33
people to the hospital has filed for bankruptcy to free itself from the
threat of lawsuits while it reorganizes its finances. Tri-State Plant Food
Inc. officials said Tuesday a class-action lawsuit that resulted after
6,000 gallons of anhydrous ammonia leaked at the plant was the reason for
filing under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code.
Company officials said they settled more than 1,400 claims with residents
affected by the leak but could not withstand additional settlements and the
lawsuit. " ... It became clear that Tri-State simply could not afford to
continue paying settlements and contend with the litigation of numerous
other claims at the same time," said company spokesman Tad Williamson.
Hundreds of residents near the fertilizer plant April 11 were exposed to
the leak. About 1,000 people were evacuated after the leak in a valve on a
tanker inside the plant. Clyde Turner Jr. and Robert Green sued the company
April 14 in the name of residents affected by the leak.
U S WEST: Mistrial Declared in Employment Discirmination Case
-------------------------------------------------------------
A mistrial has been declared in the discrimination suit against U S West
after the 10-member jury split seven to three to exonerate the Baby Bell. A
unanimous verdict was required, and when the 10 individual jurors were
asked if they agreed that U S West had not discriminated against a black
businessman three said they believed discrimnation occurred.
The jury was unanimous in favor of U S West on claims of negligence and
breach of contract and fiduciary responsibility. After discussing the three
dissenting jurors with lawyers from both sides, Daniel said all three
believed businessman Herman Malone was discriminated against, but two said
the claim had been filed too late and the third indicated she had
misunderstood the jury instructions.
Malone's RMES Communications Inc. was the only remaining plaintiff in a
class-action suit that claimed the phone company established a pattern of
racial discrimination that resulted in the elimination of black suppliers.
Malone sought up to $3.8 million from U S West, claiming the company
reneged on promises to renew his contract because he is black. U S West
denied the allegations and said Malone's contract was canceled because his
company's performance was unacceptable.
The divided jury "reflects the strength of their conviction that
discrimination did occur," Malone's lawyer, Richard Sander, said. "That's
why we're confident that on retrial, RMES and Herman will prevail." (The
Associated Press State & Local Wire, June 1, 2000)
WATER CONTAMINATION: Ontario Premier Vows Full Inquiry into E. Coli
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Ontario's coroner urged the public Wednesday to notify authorities if they
think anyone who died in the past two weeks exhibited symptoms of E. coli
infection, thought so far to have killed as many as nine people.
The call followed the latest deaths this week -- two patients who had been
hospitalized with the intestinal bacteria, which causes cramps, diarrhea,
nausea, fever and, in extreme cases, kidney failure.
Ontario Premier Mike Harris announced a public inquiry into the water
contamination in Walkerton, a rural community of 5,000 people located 90
miles west of Toronto, amid allegations that officials failed to promptly
warn residents. "We have responsibility to the victims and their families
to get to the bottom of this tragedy," he said. The investigation would be
led by a sitting or retired judge, he said.
Health officials have confirmed six adults and a 2-year-old child have died
from the contamination. Dr. Jim Cairns, deputy chief coroner in Ontario,
said his office was investigating those deaths and whether two others on
May 15 and May 19, before any public warning of the contamination, were
related to E. coli.
More than 20 people remain hospitalized, including one considered
terminally ill, and as many as 1,000 have been sickened in and around
Walkerton over the past two weeks from the E. coli that infiltrated the
water supply. The latest fatalities, on Monday and Tuesday, were adults at
hospitals in Walkerton and London, Ontario, where some victims in critical
condition were airlifted.
Dr. James Young, the province's chief coroner, asked Walkerton residents to
notify authorities if they think anyone who died in the past few weeks may
have exhibited symptoms associated with E. coli contamination. In
particular, he said, anyone who drank Walkerton water or suffered from
diarrhea before dying should be reported. The cause of the contamination
remains unknown, but officials suspect flooding after a heavy storm on May
12 may have caused E. coli bacteria on animal manure to enter the Walkerton
wells. A report on tests for E. coli in the Walkerton water was due
Wednesday and would be released Friday, said Terry Flynn, a spokesman for
the municipality. Flynn said recent monitoring had shown efforts to remove
the bacteria may be working.
Provincial police, meanwhile, are considering whether any charges should be
filed. Superintendent Rich Kotwa said the police inquiry could take months.
One class-action lawsuit has been filed, accusing local officials of
failing to notify Walkerton residents of the E. coli contamination for days
after finding out.
Health officials first alerted the public to the problem on May 21, three
days after the local water utility has acknowledged knowing about a
contamination problem. City officials say the chlorinating system on one of
the town's two main wells was malfunctioning for weeks before people
started getting sick. (Ventura County Star (Ventura County, Ca.), June 1,
2000)
*********
S U B S C R I P T I O N I N F O R M A T I O N
Class Action Reporter is a daily newsletter, co-published by Bankruptcy
Creditors' Service, Inc., Princeton, NJ, and Beard Group, Inc.,
Washington, DC. Theresa Cheuk, Managing Editor.
Copyright 1999. All rights reserved. ISSN 1525-2272.
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