In brief: Settlement reached in slaughterhouse probe

CHINO, Calif. – Several California slaughterhouses and meatpacking facilities have agreed to a multimillion-dollar settlement after allegations of inhumane treatment at their facilities led to a massive beef recall that included meat sold to the National School Lunch Program.

The settlement is valued at $155 million, but the federal government and the Humane Society of the United States expect to collect only about $3 million under terms announced Wednesday.

The Humane Society sued after recording undercover video of crippled and sick animals being kicked, shocked and shoved with forklifts at Chino-based Westland Meat Co. and Hallmark Meat Packing Co. The federal government joined the suit.

The 2008 allegations triggered a beef recall of 143 million pounds.

Copper heiress’s estate sues NYC hospital, doctor

NEW YORK – A reclusive Montana copper heiress’s estate is seeking more than $100 million in damages from a doctor and a New York City hospital where she lived for 20 years.

A local government entity represents Huguette Clark’s estate. It sued Dr. Henry Singman and Beth Israel Medical Center on Thursday.

The lawsuit accuses them of letting Clark stay when she didn’t need treatment so they could extract millions of dollars in gifts.

Singman lawyer Harold Schwab calls the lawsuit “outrageous.”

Clark’s father was a Montana senator who got rich mining copper, building railroads and founding Las Vegas. She died in 2011, leaving a $300 million estate.

LONDON – British Prime Minister David Cameron has announced measures to toughen welfare rules for migrants from the European Union.

The announcement came amid rising concern in Britain that migrants from Romania and Bulgaria – who could start working without restriction in the U.K. and the rest of the EU on Jan. 1 – would exploit the British welfare system.

The measures announced Wednesday include barring new migrants from getting jobless benefits for the first three months and deporting migrants caught begging or sleeping outdoors.

Cameron also proposed restricting the free movement of EU workers, saying the policy has caused “vast migrations” of people from poorer member states to richer ones.