Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!news.media.mit.edu!americast.com!americast.com!usa-post Newsgroups: usa-today.law From: usa-post@AmeriCast.Com Organization: American Cybercasting Approved: usa-post@AmeriCast.com Subject: law Wed, Jul 15 1992 Date: Wed, 15 Jul 92 05:08:08 EDT Message-ID: 07-15 0000 DECISIONLINE: Business Law USA TODAY Update July 15, 1992 Source: USA TODAY:Gannett National Information Network ABUSE HARDEST ON SMALL FIRMS: Labor Department officials said Tuesday at a substance abuse seminar the problem confronting small business is staggering: Of the estimated nine million employed substance abusers, more than five million work at small firms. That's partially because small firms employ more people aged 18 to 25 - those with the highest abuse rate - and are ill-equipped to detect or solve the problem. MARINE CORPS FACES CHARGES: A Marine Corps equal-opportunity officer charged Tuesday the Corps discriminates against blacks in senior officer promotions. Capt. Marcus Hartmann said the Marines could be sued if promotion practices do not change. Defense Department statistics show blacks comprise 18% of the Corps' uniformed personnel and 4.5% of its officers and only one of 68 generals is black. CORPS CLAIMS FAIRNESS: A Marine Corps spokesman in Washington, responding to charges of discrimination, said Tuesday that the Marines do not discriminate against black officers. He said 57% of the black officers eligible for promotion from lieutenant colonel to colonel in the 1993 fiscal year have been awarded promotions, compared to 43% of eligible white officers. SIERRA TUCSON FILES SUIT: Sierra Tucson Companies Inc. has filed suit against Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona, the firm announced Tuesday. The suit alleges that Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona Inc. entered into an unlawful agreement with Blue Cross and Blue Shield members to fix reimbursement levels and engaged in a nationwide boycott of Sierra Tucson's facility. CONSUMER RIP-OFFS SWELL: Spurred by the recession, the number of consumer rip-offs around the country has reached a two-decade high, according to a study released Tuesday by consumer groups. The nationwide study said businesses - most commonly job-placement agencies, auto-repair shops and home contractors - are devising new methods of cheating customers out of their money. RECESSION ENCOURAGES TO SCAMS: The Consumer Federation of America and National Association of Consumer Agency Administrators based Tuesday's consumer rip-offs study on a poll of consumer agencies in 27 states. It showed the recession has left consumers vulnerable to shaky sales pitches. Despite the rising number of rip-offs, one expert said consumer protection offices are being scaled back and closed by budget cuts. UNITED SAVINGS TO BEGIN FUNDING: United Savings Association of Texas FSB Tuesday received approval to begin funding certain mortgage loans of Commonwealth Mortgage Company, Inc., which has filed for protection under Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. United Savings has been approved to fund certain obligations of Commonwealth including mortgage applications that have been put into process but not yet funded. JUDGE DELAYS LTV HEARING: For the second day in a row, U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge Burton Lifland Tuesday recessed a hearing on a request by the LTV Steel Co. to terminate its labor and retiree benefits agreements with the United Steelworkers of America and ordered the two sides to engage in further meetings. The order followed a company petition to limit the hearing to 20 hours including direct and cross-examination. MEXICO OPENS UP SERVICES: Mexico Tuesday agreed to open its financial services industry to U.S. and Canadian companies, a major step toward forging a North American free trade pact between the countries. Mexico has long shielded its services from foreign ownership. Security and insurance firms are allowed 30% foreign ownership while banks are allowed 49%. Under a tentative plan, the caps will be gone by 2000. ONE BANCORP SEEKS PROTECTION: The One Bancorp Tuesday announced that it has filed a voluntary petition with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Massachusetts seeking Chapter 11 protection. The One Bancorp also filed a motion in the District of Connecticut Court, where an involuntary bankruptcy petition was filed June 2, for a transfer of the case to Massachusetts. RTC SUING PANIC OVER LOAN: The Resolution Trust Corp. is suing Milan Panic, now the prime minister of Yugoslavia, for defaulting on a $8.4 million loan he assumed when he bought a hotel in California, Bloomberg Business News reports. Panic bought the Budget Motel in Mission Valley in December 1985 with a loan from Progressive Savings Bank of Alhambra - seized by the Office of Thrift Supervision. ICC APPEALS INJUNCTION: The Interstate Commerce Commission Tuesday appealed a bankruptcy court injunction allowing PIE Nationwide, a bankrupt trucking company, to continue to claim $200 million in undercharges, Bloomberg Business News reported. Many truckers working on contracted rates have gone bankrupt and trustees are trying to collect higher tariffs from shippers for alleged invalid contracts. JAPANESE WIDOW WINS SUIT: A widow in Japan has convinced the government that overwork killed her husband. Labor Ministry inspectors decided Tuesday that Sachiko Ishii is entitled to annual payments from a worker's compensation fund. The case focused attention on overwork in Japan, where there is a term - karoshi - for death by overwork. LANDOWNERS FILE POLLUTION SUIT: Three more federal lawsuits were filed by landowners against Champion International charging that the paper maker negligently pollutes the Pigeon River in Greenville, Tenn. Champion also is facing a $5 billion class-action lawsuit and a wrongful death lawsuit. The class-action trial is to begin Aug. 3. Business Law Editor: Kate Coughlin. (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