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Vivendi To Cut US Class Action Provision
Court Press News |
2011/02/24 09:27
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pVivendi SA said Wednesday it will significantly reduce the EUR550 million provision it had made to cover potential damages for a U.S. class action case after a U.S. judge narrowed the size of the class. /ppThe Paris-based company's potential liabilities have been slashed by 80% in light of the court victory, which will free up more cash as the group prepares to buy out Vodafone PLC's minority stake in telecoms operator SFR. /ppVivendi made the provision in its 2009 accounts to cover any eventual payout after a jury in January last year found the company liable for 57 misstatements about its financial condition in the two years leading up to its near bankruptcy in 2002. /ppThe damages arising from the ruling in January 2010, which was based on a class involving shareholders outside the U.S., could have totaled more than $9 billion, according to lawyers for the shareholders, although Vivendi's lawyer Herve Pisani rejected the sum as unfounded. /ppThe ruling Tuesday by U.S. District Judge Richard Holwell that shareholders who bought Vivendi shares outside the U.S. are barred from bringing fraud claims against the company in the U.S., considerably narrowed the overall size of the potential class.
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Horizon Lines to plead guilty to fixing prices
Court Press News |
2011/02/24 09:27
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pU.S. authorities say the shipping company Horizon Lines LLC has agreed to plead guilty to fixing prices and to pay a $45 million fine./ppA Justice Department statement Thursday says the company was accused of conspiring to fix rates and surcharges for freight transportation between the United States and Puerto Rico from May 2002 until April 2008./ppFive former executives have been sentenced after pleading guilty in 2008 to charges related to the shipping conspiracy./ppThe Charlotte, North Carolina-based company has a fleet of 20 U.S.-flagged cargo ships that carry items including heavy equipment, medicines and consumer goods./ppIn June 2009, the company agreed to pay $20 million to settle a class action price-fixing lawsuit.
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Iowa bill on same-sex marriage licenses in trouble
Law News |
2011/02/24 09:26
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pA measure that would bar Iowa county officials from issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples faces a bleak future as it sits in a House committee. /ppTop Republicans on Thursday said they have no plans to debate the issue, viewing it a nod to the party's social conservative wing. Top Democrats argue the measure is unconstitutional and violates a 2009 Iowa Supreme Court decision striking down a state law defining marriage as being between one man and one woman. /ppBackers say introducing the measure is one more opportunity to voice their displeasure with how the marriage issue has been handled. /ppRepublican Rep. Betty De Boef (dee-BUFF') says the issue has been handled badly and that some lawmakers want to take every opportunity to make that point. /p
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Wis. justices to argue over expenses
Court Press News |
2011/02/01 10:22
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| pThe state Supreme Court's conservative and liberal factions are set to clash over travel reimbursements and court finances./ppThe court's seven justices are set to meet on Monday morning. On the agenda is Justice Pat Roggensack's request for state reimbursement for traveling around the state for a personal project and questions about why Chief Justice Shirley Abrahamson hired two executive assistants when the court's budget calls for one./ppRoggensack says her project on racial disparities in sentencing falls is both personal and court related. Abrahamson contends the two assistants split their time./ppTensions have run high on the court since conservative-leaning justices gained a majority in 2008, leaving liberal-leaning Abrahamson and another justice in the minority./p |
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Appeals court rejects sanctuary policy lawsuit
Law News |
2011/02/01 10:22
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pA state appeals court says San Francisco cannot be held responsible for the deaths of a father and two sons allegedly killed by a man who had been protected by the city's sanctuary policy.
The San Francisco Chronicle reports that the court ruled Monday that the city isn't liable for crimes committed by the alleged gunman, Edwin Ramos, who is a suspected illegal immigrant from El Salvador. The decision upholds a February 2010 court decision. /ppPolice believe Ramos mistook Tony Bologna and his sons, Michael and Matthew, for gang members and then fatally shot them near their San Francisco home in June 2008. /ppRelatives say the victims might be alive if Ramos had been turned over to immigration authorities after earlier arrests when he was a juvenile. /p |
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