Aug. 11, 2010 at 3:24 p.m.
Filed under:
Litigation,
Technology
By Mary Ellen Podmolik
The Illinois Attorney General’s office said it filed suit Tuesday in Cook County Circuit Court against 22 major companies for allegedly fixing the prices of liquid crystal display screens used in computers, televisions and cell phones.
The companies named in the lawsuit include Hitachi, Ltd., Epson Imaging Devices Corp., LG Display Co., Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., Sharp Corp., and Toshiba Corp.
In addition to seeking to stop the alleged activity, the suit asks the court to award as damages the overcharges paid on purchases of the affected items. Get the full story »
Aug. 11, 2010 at 10:50 a.m.
Filed under:
Fraud,
Investing,
Litigation,
Retirement
By Becky Yerak
About 120 Illinois and California residents thought they were investing more than $20 million in Turkish Eurobonds when, in fact, a Lisle man and others were spending the money on luxury automobiles, homes, vacations and online pornography, the Illinois Department of Insurance alleged Tuesday.
The state’s action follows a lawsuit filed by the Securities and Exchange Commission in March in which the federal regulator said the group was using the investors’ money to also buy a stamp collection, and also invest in “the cryogenic preservation of umbilical cord stem cells.” Get the full story »
A U.S. District Judge in Chicago ruled Monday that Sam Zell can’t be made to pay for the company’s retirement fund losses because Tribune isn’t directly involved in the lawsuit. Zell was sued by workers who claimed that the billionaire caused the company’s employee stock ownership plan to lose value.
Aug. 10, 2010 at 2:02 p.m.
Filed under:
Government,
Housing,
Litigation,
Real estate
By Mary Ellen Podmolik
Comedian George Willborn (Tribune file)
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development has filed a charge of housing discrimination against a Bridgeport family and a prominent realty firm for refusing to sell a million-dollar-plus home to local comedian and radio personality George Willborn and his family.
HUD alleges that Daniel and Adrienne Sabbia and their real estate agent, Jeffrey Lowe of Prudential Rubloff Properties, violated the Fair Housing Act when they discriminated against Willborn, his wife, Peytyn and their family for not following through with the sale of an amenity-filled 8,000-square-foot home at 3300 S. Normal Ave. in the Bridgeport neighborhood. Get the full story »
Aug. 9, 2010 at 10:15 a.m.
Filed under:
Energy,
Environment,
Litigation
By Reuters
BP said Monday it has made an initial deposit of $3 billion into a $20 billion fund to pay for its Gulf of Mexico oil spill after the oil company finalized negotiations with the U.S. Department of Justice. Get the full story »
By Associated Press
The independent examiner appointed to review claims and assets in Washington Mutual’s bankruptcy case is seeking subpoena power.
The examiner made the request Friday in filing his proposed work plan in Delaware bankruptcy court. A hearing on his plan will be held Tuesday. Get the full story »
Aug. 6, 2010 at 4:45 p.m.
Filed under:
Litigation
By Associated Press
A federal judge has set a date for Round 2 of the battle between toymaker rivals Mattel Inc. and MGA Entertainment as they duke it out over ownership of the pouty Bratz doll line.
U.S. District Judge David Carter has ordered a Jan. 11 trial date and dismissed a motion by MGA to toss out Mattel’s allegations of racketeering. Get the full story »
Aug. 5, 2010 at 4:50 p.m.
Filed under:
Litigation,
Regulations
By Julie Wernau
The Securities and Exchange Commission has asked a federal court judge to sign off on a consent order that would settle a years-long accounting fraud scandal that led to Warrenville-based Navistar’s delisting on the New York Stock Exchange in 2007.
The settlement agreement, first announced last October, was opened to the public for the first time Thursday, and names five former and current Navistar employees who allegedly engaged in fraudulent and improper accounting practices that led the company to overstate its pre-tax income by approximately $137 million from 2001 to 2005. The company manufactures and markets commercial trucks, school buses, diesel engines and related parts. Get the full story »
Aug. 5, 2010 at 2:16 p.m.
Filed under:
Government,
Jobs/employment,
Litigation,
Retirement
By Reuters
AT&T Inc. is in talks to settle a lawsuit by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission that charges the largest U.S. phone company of discriminating nationwide against workers older than 40.
According to a joint filing by AT&T and the EEOC in Manhattan federal court, the EEOC has proposed a settlement of the nearly year-old lawsuit, and both sides held “substantive settlement discussions” in a June 30 mediation session. Another session is set for Aug. 10. Get the full story »
Aug. 3, 2010 at 5:31 p.m.
Filed under:
Airlines,
Litigation,
M&A
From the Dallas Morning News
Continental Airlines announced Tuesday that it has settled three lawsuits filed by shareholders who didn’t like what they were getting in Continental’s merger with United Airlines.
Aug. 3, 2010 at 2:52 p.m.
Filed under:
Internet,
Litigation,
Retail,
Updated
By Julie Wernau
The word “uncommon” has become a little too common for two Web sites — www.getuncommon.com and www.uncommongoods.com — who are locked in a legal battle over their namesakes. Get the full story »
Aug. 3, 2010 at 1:36 p.m.
Filed under:
Bankruptcy,
Litigation,
Media
By Michael Oneal
Tribune Co.’s attempts to exit bankruptcy court will be delayed at least until October, but could extend even beyond that as the company and its creditors dive into a new round of negotiations aimed at finally settling the 20-month-old Chapter 11 case.
The delay is an acknowledgment that an examiner’s report about the propriety of the company’s 2007 leveraged buyout has upset a previous settlement in the case and forced the company to redouble efforts to win the approval from a range of dissident creditors. Get the full story »
July 30, 2010 at 1:12 p.m.
Filed under:
Airlines,
Government,
Litigation
By Reuters
Northwest Airlines, which was bought by Delta Air Lines Inc. in 2008, has agreed to plead guilty and pay a $38 million criminal fine for its role in a conspiracy to fix prices on air cargo shipments, the U.S. Justice Department said Friday.
Under the plea agreement, it said Northwest has agreed to cooperate with the department’s ongoing antitrust investigation.
July 30, 2010 at 12:23 p.m.
Filed under:
Litigation
By Ameet Sachdev and Ray Gibson | A federal appeals court said it took the extraordinary step this week of removing a judge from the middle of a criminal trial because the judge’s conduct showed bias against the prosecutors.
A three-judge panel of the 7th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals explained Friday why three days earlier it ordered U.S. District Chief Judge James Holderman off the trial of a man facing drug charges. Their opinion blasted Holderman for his abuse of discretion and hostility toward prosecutors. Get the full story »
July 29, 2010 at 5:48 p.m.
Filed under:
Bankruptcy,
Litigation,
Media,
Updated
By Michael Oneal
U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Kevin Carey signed an order providing certain key parties access to the full examiner’s report in the Tribune Co. bankruptcy case so they can evaluate its momentous conclusions before an Aug. 6 voting deadline.
He also indicated he might move the deadline out by a few days, but said he was determined not to disrupt the schedule for confirmation hearings on the Tribune Co. plan which are slated to begin Aug. 30.
Carey stopped short of ordering full public disclosure of the report. But he indicated he would prefer to make it public if parties in the case can resolve a series of confidentiality disputes raised by several big lenders to Tribune Co.’s ill-fated 2007 leveraged buyout, which was led by Chicago real estate magnate Sam Zell. Get the full story »
