Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!news.media.mit.edu!americast.com!usa-post Newsgroups: usa-today.law From: usa-post@AmeriCast.Com Organization: American Cybercasting Approved: usa-post@AmeriCast.com Subject: law Wed, Apr 15 1992 Date: Wed, 15 Apr 92 05:42:41 EDT Message-ID: 04-15 0000 DECISIONLINE: Business Law USA TODAY Update April 15, 1992 Source: USA TODAY:Gannett National Information Network UAW ENDS CATERPILLAR STRIKE: A federal mediator announced Tuesday evening that the United Auto Workers union has agreed to end its five-month-old strike against Caterpillar Inc. The heavy equipment maker agreed to end moves to hire replacement workers. Negotiations between the two sides to resolve contract disputes will continue. The strike began Nov. 4 and grew to involve about 12,600 workers. ANTI-PORN BILL DEBATED: The Senate Judiciary Committee is scheduled to consider amendments to the controversial Pornography Victims Compensation Act when it returns from Easter recess. It would allow victims of sexual assault to sue to collect damages from publishers, producers, sellers, exhibitors and distributors of pornography, if they can prove the material was a substantial cause of the crime. (For more, see special Bill package below.) HELMSLEY LOSES APPEAL: Hotel queen Leona Helmsley will be headed to prison Wednesday after losing her last appeal Tuesday to get out of serving her four-year sentence on tax evasion charges. A federal appeals court rejected a defense plea to let Helmsley, 71, perform community service instead of serving time at the Federal Medical Center in Lexington, Ky. "I accept the judgement" Helmsley said. BRITISH AIRWAYS FILES SUIT: British Airways is suing Virgin Atlantic Airways and its chairman, Richard Branson, for libel. BA is suing over Branson's allegations that it has been carrying out a dirty tricks campaign, which BA denies. Also, Branson is suing BA for libel for dismissing his claims as a publicity stunt. Virgin Atlantic would not comment because it has not received the BA charges. SUZUKI DEALER SUES: Milton Schaeffer, owner of Buff City Suzuki in Memphis, Tenn., has sued American Suzuki Motor Corp. for requiring him, but no other dealers to build an exclusive dealership. Schaeffer said he spent more than $1 million in 1988 for the new dealership and later found that Suzuki franchised another dealer in Memphis, Gossett Suzuki, without requiring separate facilities, reports say. BANKRUPT FIRMS LEAVE BIG BILLS: Japanese companies that went bankrupt in fiscal 1991 left a record $58 billion in debt, more than double the previous year. Teikoku Data Bank, a private credit research agency, says the previous record for debts was $32.6 billion in 1985. For the fiscal year ended March 31, bankruptcies with debts of more than $75,000 totaled 11,767 - the most since 11,853 in 1987. GLB, COMMITTEE REACH AGREEMENT: Great Lakes Bancorp and a shareholder's committee announced Tuesday that they have reached an agreement to end litigation, averting a threatened proxy fight in connection with the 1992 annual meeting. Under the deal, Great Lakes would expand its board of directors to 15 members and add two of the committee's representatives to the bank's slate of directors for election. CASTROL CAN RUN ADS: Castrol can run a print advertisement that says Castrol GTX 20W-50 is the only leading motor oil in America to pass the world's toughest performance standards, a federal judge has ruled. Quaker State had asked that publication of the ad be stopped. U.S. District Judge Charles S. Haight, Jr., found that Quaker State had failed to show the advertisement was either false or misleading. EXXON TO PAY ALASKA $128M: In Juneau, Alaska, Exxon Corp. Tuesday agreed to pay the state $128 million to settle a 14-year-old lawsuit over back oil royalties and interest, lawyers for both sides said. The state had sought $170 million from the company, claiming Exxon had undervalued North Slope oil. SPECIAL PACKAGE ON BILL: BILL ATTRACTS ATTENTION: The Pornography Victims Compensation Act is attracting much attention as it is being debated in Congress. The bill, which would allow victims of sexual assault to sue a broad range of groups that produce and sell pornographic material if they can prove it contributed to the crime, is being called the "Bundy bill," after serial killer Ted Bundy, who claimed that porn was to blame. PORN RESPONSIBLE FOR VIOLENCE: Supporters of the anti-porn bill say pornography is responsible for increased violence. Sponsor Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., says there's a direct link between porn proliferation and increasing violence against women and children, though opponents say there's no scientific evidence of that. Anit-porn activist Donna Ferguson says the issue is not free speech, but public safety. BLAME MISPLACED: Opponents of the anti-porn bill say it places blame on the wrong groups. "Are we supposed to ban `Bonnie and Clyde' because someone sees it and then commits a bank robbery?" says Nan Hunter, Brooklyn Law School professor. Also, First Amendment lawyers say the it would be a legal nightmare for producers and distributors of sexually explicit material that is not legally obscene. (End of package.) Business Law Editor: Jason P. Smith. (919-855-3491) Making copies of USA TODAY Update (Copyright, 1992) for further distribution violates federal law. This article is copyright 1992 Gannett News Service. Redistribution to other sites is not permitted except by arrangement with American Cybercasting Corporation. For more information, send-email to usa@AmeriCast.COM