Business briefs for December 28, 2001

Friday, Dec. 28, 2001 | 9:58 a.m.

Age discrimination alleged

PHILADELPHIA -- The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission sued Allstate Insurance Co. Thursday after 15 months of trying to settle accusations that the insurer had discriminated against its agents.

The suit centers on a decision by Allstate to convert its 15,200-member sales force from regular employees with pensions and health care benefits to independent contractors.

To continue as contractors, the agents were required to sign a waiver, or release, that they would not sue Allstate. By last June, all but 6,400 of the agents had become contractors. The remaining agents were then dismissed and given the choice of rejoining as contractors or leaving the company.

Infuriated by the waiver, which they viewed as the linchpin in the company's strategy to shed its older workers, several agents filed complaints with the EEOC, accusing Allstate of age discrimination.

The agency determined in September 2000 that the waiver was a form of pre-emptive retaliation and that Allstate had violated several laws against discrimination. The agency pressed Allstate to compensate the 6,400 agents and to change its policies, but the EEOC said in February that negotiations had failed.

SBC penalty payment declines

SBC Communications Inc., the second-biggest U.S. local-telephone company and the owner of Nevada Bell, paid the U.S. government $1.95 million this month for failing to meet requirements regarding treatment of rivals using its network.

Nevada Bell provides local phone service in Nevada outside of the Las Vegas area, which is served by Sprint Corp. and several small competitors.

The penalty is the lowest SBC has paid as a result of missing performance goals the company accepted to win Federal Communications Commission approval of its 1999 purchase of Ameritech Corp. The conditions require the carrier to give competitors, such as Allegiance Telecom Inc., equal access to the lines, computers and switches needed to provide phone service.

SBC pays penalties to the Treasury Department if it misses targets for three straight months. The latest payment covers deficiencies from August to October, according to a document obtained from the FCC. The payment is 44 percent less than the $3.51 million paid last month.

San Antonio-based SBC has paid the U.S. $53 million since December 2000, when the performance plan began. The payments peaked at $6.42 million in January 2001.

Vegas gas prices continue declining

The average price of gasoline in Southern Nevada declined for the 15th consecutive week, the Automobile Club of Southern California reported.

The price of regular unleaded gasoline in Las Vegas stood at $1.109 this morning, down from a record price of $1.88 in March 2000 and 2.8 cents lower than a week ago.

Auto Club spokesman Jeff Spring said the rate of decline throughout the region could indicate that prices might level off where they are currently.

He said prices are increasing on the wholesale market and fuel sold there is coming from overstocked inventories, not new production. He predicted prices will begin climbing upward in the next two weeks as supply gets more in line with demand.

Retailer to settle battery claims

CHICAGO -- Sears, Roebuck and Co. has agreed to pay the government $62.6 million to settle allegations it advertised and sold DieHard auto batteries in 1994-95 as the nation's "longest-lasting" even after it learned some had defects.

The settlement was announced Thursday by the Hoffman Estates, Ill.-based retailer and the U.S. attorney for southern Illinois, ending a more than two-year investigation into the batteries made by Sears supplier Exide Technologies.

Sears said it will take a one-time charge in the fourth quarter of 12 cents per share to reflect the settlement.

"Faced with the continuing expense and distraction of protracted litigation, we have decided that settling it now is in the best interests of all of our constituents," said Chairman and Chief Executive Alan Lacy.

Suit now a class action

MONTGOMERY, Ala. -- A lawsuit by a group of cattlemen accusing the nation's largest meat packer of cornering the beef market has been granted class-action status.

More than 30,000 cattlemen from across the country could join in the suit against IBP Inc.

Senior U.S. District Judge Lyle Strom in Montgomery broadened the lawsuit Wednesday to potentially include all U.S. cattle producers and owners who sold cattle to IBP on a cash basis since February 1994.

The suit claims IBP illegally cornered the beef market and conspired to fix prices paid on the open market.

"There's no question this is a victory for us, and a victory for cattlemen all over the U.S.," said Birmingham attorney Joe Whatley, who is representing the plaintiffs.

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