Sep. 7, 2010 at 2:05 p.m.
Filed under:
Computers,
Litigation,
Software
By Associated Press
Hewlett-Packard Co. is suing former Chief Executive Mark Hurd to stop him from taking a job at rival Oracle Corp.
The complaint filed Tuesday in a California state court comes a day after Oracle hired Hurd as co-president to help lead the database software maker as it tries to muscle in on more of HP’s turf. Get the full story »
Sep. 3, 2010 at 5:31 p.m.
Filed under:
Fraud,
Litigation,
Manufacturing
By Associated Press
Toymaker Mattel Inc. has filed a lawsuit alleging MGA Entertainment fraudulently transferred hundreds of millions of dollars to keep Mattel from collecting on anticipated judgments and to defraud other creditors.
The suit filed Wednesday in Los Angeles County Superior Court alleges MGA transferred $430 million in dividends and other assets to its chief executive Isaac Larian, his family members and various trusts between 2004 and 2008 to make the company appear insolvent and prevent MGA’s creditors, including Mattel, from cashing in. Get the full story »
Sep. 3, 2010 at 4:33 p.m.
Filed under:
Jobs/employment,
Litigation
By Associated Press
A federal judge on Friday approved Eastman Kodak Co.’s $21.4 million offer to settle class-action lawsuits by black employees who maintained white counterparts were favored over them for pay and promotion.
In an almost seven-year legal tussle, U.S. Magistrate Jonathan Feldman signed off on a deal that pays about 3,000 current and past Kodak workers amounts ranging from $1,000 to $50,000. The decision ends a 2004 class-action suit and a similar suit filed by other black workers in 2007. Get the full story »
Sep. 3, 2010 at 4:26 p.m.
Filed under:
Internet,
Litigation,
Privacy issues
By Reuters
Google Inc. has settled a lawsuit accusing it of privacy violations in connection with its Buzz social networking service, according to a court document filed Friday.
The settlement filing comes the same day Google said it would simplify and update its privacy policies, Associate General Counsel Mike Yang said on the company’s Web site. Get the full story »
Sep. 3, 2010 at 4:20 p.m.
Filed under:
Crime,
Fraud,
Investing,
Litigation
By Reuters
Investors in Gabriel Capital LP, a so-called feeder fund that funneled money to imprisoned swindler Bernard Madoff, were awarded $12.74 million by a panel of three arbitrators, court records show.
The award to two New Jersey investment funds was disclosed in a filing Thursday with the New York State Supreme Court in Manhattan. Get the full story »
Sep. 2, 2010 at 5:06 p.m.
Filed under:
Banking,
Litigation
By Becky Yerak
Chicago-based MB Financial Bank has completed its acquisition of the Illinois guardianship and special needs trust business of U.S. Trust, an arm of Bank of America. Get the full story »
Sep. 2, 2010 at 2:20 p.m.
Filed under:
Litigation,
M&A
By Reuters
Billionaire investor Ron Burkle plans to appeal a Delaware court ruling that upheld a “poison pill” put in place by bookseller Barnes & Noble Inc.
Burkle, Barnes & Noble’s second largest shareholder with 18.8 percent, is locked in a proxy battle with the largest U.S. bookstore chain. He is seeking to install three directors, including himself, at the company’s annual meeting this month. Get the full story »
Aug. 31, 2010 at 1:01 p.m.
Filed under:
Internet,
Litigation,
Privacy issues,
Technology
By Reuters
Facebook Inc. Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg says a lawsuit by a man who claims to own a huge chunk of the popular social networking site is seeking to uncover needless details about his private life.
Zuckerberg is fighting a civil lawsuit filed by Paul Ceglia, who claims an 84 percent stake in the privately held company, believed to be worth several billion dollars. Get the full story »
Aug. 30, 2010 at 3:58 p.m.
Filed under:
Crime,
Fraud,
Litigation
From The Daily Herald | Francis Alan Schmitz, a 59-year-old man from Long Grove, has pleaded guilty to defrauding financial institutions in an alleged Ponzi scheme.
Aug. 30, 2010 at 2:43 p.m.
Filed under:
Banking,
Litigation
By Becky Yerak
The brothers who helped run failed Citizens Bank & Trust Co. of Chicago are being sued in Cook County Circuit Court over an alleged non-payment of almost $1.6 million.
Delta Trading Co. of Chicago is suing Robert and George Michael for breach of contract.
It said that in January 2007, the brothers borrowed nearly $1.6 million from Marshall & Ilsley Bank. In June 2010, M&I assigned its rights under the note to Delta. Get the full story »
Aug. 27, 2010 at 6:05 p.m.
Filed under:
Airlines,
Airplanes,
Airports,
Labor,
Litigation,
M&A,
Transportation,
Travel,
Unions,
Updated
By Julie Johnsson
Passengers at the United and Continental kiosks at O'Hare International Airport, May 3, 2010. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)
The Justice Department approved the proposed merger of United and Continental airlines Friday, closing an unexpectedly speedy four-month investigation that paves the way for the mega-deal to close by Oct. 1.
To win the blessing of federal antitrust regulators, United and Continental agreed to lease slots for 18 round-trip flights to Southwest Airlines at Newark Liberty International Airport, beginning in March 2011.
Justice officials said the slot transfer was struck in “response to the department’s principal concerns” regarding the merger, which critics have warned will speed consolidation and eventually leave the three largest U.S. carriers with a lion’s share of the market. Get the full story »
Aug. 27, 2010 at 1:46 p.m.
Filed under:
Litigation
By Dow Jones Newswires-Wall Street Journal
A firm run by Microsoft Corp. co-founder Paul Allen is suing Apple Inc., Google Inc. and 9 other companies alleging they are violating patents developed at a Silicon Valley lab Allen financed more than a decade ago.
Allen, 57, Friday through his firm Interval Licensing LLC filed suit in federal court in Seattle asserting the companies are using technology from his laboratory. Named in the suit, along with Apple and Google, are AOL Inc., eBay Inc., Facebook Inc., Netflix Inc., Office Depot Inc., OfficeMax Inc., Staples Inc., Yahoo Inc. and Google’s YouTube subsidiary. Get the full story »
Aug. 27, 2010 at 11:42 a.m.
Filed under:
Litigation,
Technology
By CNN
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
Facebook, which has gone after sites with the word “book” in their names, is also trying to trademark the word “face,” according to court documents.
But the social networking site has met with a familiar foe. As TechCrunch first reported, Aaron Greenspan has asked for an extension of time to file an opposition to Facebook’s attempt. Greenspan is the president and CEO of Think Computer, the developer of a mobile payments app called FaceCash.
Greenspan, also a former Harvard classmate of Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg, claimed he had a hand in developing the social networking giant. The case was settled last year. Get the full story »
Aug. 26, 2010 at 3:28 p.m.
Filed under:
Housing,
Litigation,
Real estate,
Updated
By Mary Ellen Podmolik
George Wilborn at the Dirksen court house this morning. (William DeShazer/Tribune)
The U.S. Justice Department is taking over the case of Chicago radio personality George Willborn, who allegedly was the victim of racial discrimination because of his family’s failed efforts to buy a home in Chicago’s Bridgeport neighborhood.
The Department of Housing and Urban Development filed a federal housing discrimination complaint this month against Bridgeport homeowners Daniel and Adrienne Sabbia, Prudential Rubloff Properties and real estate agent Jeffrey Lowe. HUD said they violated the Fair Housing Act when the Sabbias backed out of a verbal agreement to sell the $1.799 million home to the Willborns, who are African-American.
The matter could have been handled as an administrative case by HUD or in the federal court system by the Justice Department. The Willborns elected to transfer the matter to federal court, which means the Justice Department has, by statute, 30 days to file a case. The transfer to the federal court system means the Willborns could be eligible to receive punitive damages as well as compensatory damages from a jury. Get the full story »
Aug. 26, 2010 at 5:51 a.m.
Filed under:
Beverages,
Food,
Litigation,
Restaurants
By Tribune staff report
A Northlake woman sued McDonald’s in Cook County Circuit Court alleging that her daughter was seriously burned in 2009 when a hot chocolate she ordered from the fast-food giant spilled and seriously burned her leg.
Vicki LaRocco bought the hot chocolate for her daughter on April 28, 2009, at a McDonald’s drive-through window in Schiller Park, according to the lawsuit. She said the lid of the cup was improperly secured, however, and the beverage spilled onto LaRocco’s daughter, causing “severe pain and scarring,” the suit states. Get the full story>>