Company News: Grace settles eight claims over asbestos
W.R. Grace & Co. has agreed to pay $17.9 million to settle eight asbestos property-damage claims as part of its Chapter 11 case.
Grace, a specialty chemical company under Chapter 11 protection since 2001, reached agreements with eight creditors including the Port of Seattle, the state of Washington and the Catholic Diocese of Little Rock, Ark.
The U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Del., will consider the settlements at a Nov. 26 hearing.
According to court documents filed Monday, Grace denied any wrongdoing in the asbestos cases but said it agreed to settle “because it is in the best interest of its Chapter 11 estates to avoid further expense, inconvenience and the distraction of expensive, burdensome and protracted litigation.”
The settlements come nearly three months after the bankruptcy court ruled in favor of asbestos claimants, who had sought to speed up the claims resolution process.
Under the settlements, the Port of Seattle would receive the largest claim at $14.5 million, followed by the state of Washington’s at just over $2 million, and the Fargo Housing and Redevelopment Authority’s would get about $810,000.
The pilots union at American Airlines asked for pay raises of nearly 49 percent on Tuesday, which it said would make up for inflation since 1992.
The proposal is an increase from a 30.5 percent raise request made by previous union leaders in May.
The union also renewed a union call for signing bonuses equal to 15 percent of pilots’ pay from July 2006 to the day a new deal is reached.
And the union said it wants additional compensation tied to company performance, with details yet to be worked out.
A company spokeswoman said the proposal would dramatically increase pilot costs and make American Airlines less competitive with other carriers.
Determined to sell more television ads, Internet search leader Google Inc. is sharpening its focus on the medium with demographic data from the influential Nielsen Co.
Under an agreement to be announced today, Google will pay Nielsen an undisclosed amount to obtain detailed information about the kinds of people who watch specific TV shows.
The breakdown, drawn from Nielsen’s rating service, typically provides viewers’ ages, gender, marital status and other personal data that help advertisers choose the audience most likely to be interested in their product or service.