Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!tamsun.tamu.edu!mtecv2!americast.com!americast.com!usa-post From: usa-post@AmeriCast.Com Newsgroups: usa-today.law,americast.usa-today.law Subject: law Tue, Sep 1 1992 Message-ID: Date: 1 Sep 92 08:40:11 GMT Organization: American Cybercasting Lines: 120 Approved: usa-post@AmeriCast.com 09-01 0000 DECISIONLINE: Business Law USA TODAY Update Sept. 1, 1992 Source: USA TODAY:Gannett National Information Network TELEDYNE DECISION REVERSED: The Delaware Supreme Court Monday reversed a chancery court decision over a Teledyne stock buyback. The decision took away an award to shareholders of $1 a share given in a class-action lawsuit ruling in a 1976 stock buyback. The shareholders had argued that, prior to their decision to participate in the buyback, Teledyne did not disclose that its 1975 annual report would be mailed shortly. CLASS-ACTION DISTINCTION WRONG: In overturning a decision favoring shareholders in a class-action suit against Teledyne, the Delaware Supreme Court said the chancery court should not have considered the shareholders a class. The court ruled that it cold not be proven that all shareholders relied on the same information in deciding to participate in a stock buyback. HAYES, ZENITH SETTLE SUIT: Hayes Microcomputer Products Inc. and Zenith Data Systems Corporation Monday announced they have settled out of court in a patent infringement suit involving the Hayes 302 Escape Sequence patent. Zenith said it would use only modem products which use the patented Hayes escape sequence technology in future sales. STRIKE NEGOTIATIONS CONTINUE: GM strike negotiations resumed Monday morning as two more General Motors car assembly plants had to stop output because they didn't have enough parts. The strike by 2,600 GM workers at a Lordstown, Ohio, components plant is in its fifth day. Orion Township, Mich., halted production of Cadillacs and Oldsmobiles. Baltimore's GM van plant also shut down. RESTAURANT GUILTY IN DRUNK CASE: Dean Blouin of Spokane, Wash., Monday won a settlement from a restaurant that served alcohol to a patron who struck and partially paralyzed Blouin in a drunken-driving incident. Blouin had one leg severed and one crushed in 1990 when a car driven by Philip Erickson hit him in a driveway. Erickson had run up a $97 tab for liquor at Cascade Restaurant and Italian Cuisine. DRIVER LEFT RESTAURANT DRUNK: Philip Erickson, who is serving one year for vehicular assault, was legally drunk and driving with a suspended license when he left Cascade Restaurant and Italian Cuisine before hitting Dean Blouin with his car in November 1990, according to court documents. Blouin was awarded more than $1 million in a settlement Monday. Erickson also had a history of reckless driving, according to records. STOCK KING CONVICTED: Convicted penny-stock king Meyer Blinder was sentenced to 46 months in prison and fined $100,000 for his role in a stock scam. Blinder, 70, calmly accepted the sentence in court Monday, unlike earlier this summer when he threatened to kill a federal prosecutor. Blinder had faced up to 60 years in prison. Blinder's firm was one of the largest selling penny stocks in the 1980s. LORAL COMPLETES LTV TAKEOVER: After months of wrangling, a group led by Loral Corp. says it has completed its takeover of LTV's missile and aircraft unit. Last month, a bidding war broke out in New York bankruptcy court for LTV's aerospace business. A $475 million bid by Loral, Carlyle Group and Northrop beat a $440 million bid from Martin Marietta. Loral will control the missile unit. FTC HASN'T SOUGHT MORE INFO: SUPERVALU Inc. and Wetterau Incorporated announced Monday that the 30-day waiting period has expired without an additional request for information from the Federal Trade Commission. Wetterau had filed proxy materials with the Securities and Exchange Commission for a merger after signing a definitive merger agreement in July. A vote is expected in October. ELJER RECONSIDERATION SOUGHT: Liberty Mutual Insurance Company and Travelers Indemnity Company filed petitions Monday with the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals, asking the court to reconsider its decision in a case. The court ruled in favor of Eljer Industries Inc. in a dispute concerning the timing and availability for claims over Eljer's Quest polybutylene plumbing system. SILICON TO OFFER GAY BENEFITS: Silicon Graphics Inc. said Monday it will extend employee benefits to same-sex partners in the USA. The workstation manufacturer joins a small group of companies, including Lotus, to offer benefits to gay partners. Gay employees and their partners will have to sign an affidavit documenting that they are "spousal equivalents." ENEX RESOURCES CLAIM SETTLED: Enex Resources Corporation Monday reported it will receive $1.5 million from the resolution of a disputed claim. The company did not detail the claim. The settlement for the oil and gas acquisition, management and marketing company will increase working capital and book value by $1.24 per common share. Book value now exceeds $11 per common share, Enex said. FERC APPROVES SETTLEMENTS: The Federal Emergency Regulatory Commission Monday approved settlements that will allow units of Panhandle Eastern Corp. to recover $243 million in costs from its liquefied natural gas project. The order will become final Sept. 28. The agreements cover Trunkline LNG Co. as well as Trunkline Gas Co.'s 1987 case and Panhandle's supply arrangements with Trunkline. Business Law Editor: Beth Mann. (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