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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Business briefs: GM expert says 19 deaths eligible for payments

From Wire Reports

DETROIT – The death toll tied to faulty ignition switches in General Motors small cars has risen to 19, according to a compensation expert hired by the company. The number is likely to go higher.

Kenneth Feinberg said Monday that he has determined that 19 wrongful death claims are eligible for payments from GM. General Motors’ estimate of deaths has stood at 13 for months, although the automaker acknowledged the possibility of a higher count.

Feinberg received 125 death claims due to the faulty switches in older-model small cars such as the Chevrolet Cobalt. The rest remain under review or require further documentation, he said in a report issued Monday.

“The public report is simply reporting on those eligible to date,” Feinberg spokeswoman Camille Biros said in an email. “There will certainly be others.”

BP Alaska planning layoffs after sale

JUNEAU, Alaska – BP Alaska, a major player in the state’s oil industry, on Monday announced plans to lay off 275 employees and direct contractors early next year.

BP’s business in Alaska will be smaller because of the previously announced sale of its interests in four North Slope oil fields to Hilcorp, spokeswoman Dawn Patience said.

The layoffs, combined with the 200 people whose work was tied to those fields and accepted jobs with Hilcorp, represent about 17 percent of the total number of BP employees and contractors in Alaska, Patience said. BP has 2,725 employees and direct contractors in the state; of that total, 2,250 are employees.

Hilcorp spokeswoman Lori Nelson said job offers were made to about 200 workers associated with the assets in the deal. She said the final number who will be hired “is still a work in progress.”

United offers big bucks to attendants who leave

DALLAS – United Airlines reached a deal with the flight attendants union to offer up to $100,000 in severance for workers who leave the company.

United spokeswoman Megan McCarthy said Monday that the airline hopes that at least 2,100 of its 23,000 flight attendants will accept.

The airline also said it would recall about 1,450 furloughed flight attendants to fill jobs in places where United is understaffed.

The company, formed by a 2010 merger, has seen growth on what used to be Continental Airlines, which hired 485 flight attendants last year. But the old United operation has been shrinking and furloughing flight attendants. The cabin crews still fly separately because the company has not reached a single contract that covers both groups.

Olive Garden defends policy on breadsticks

NEW YORK – Olive Garden is defending its practice of giving customers as many breadsticks as they want, saying the policy conveys “Italian generosity.”

The remark is part of a response by the chain’s parent company, Darden Restaurants Inc., to a nearly 300-page criticism released by hedge fund Starboard Value last week. Starboard took Olive Garden and its management to task for a litany of issues, including its liberal distribution of breadsticks to customers, its failure to salt the water used to boil its pasta and even the length of the asparagus it serves.

Darden’s 24-page response doesn’t specifically address each of Starboard’s criticisms but states that the company is already implementing a variety of strategies to improve Olive Garden’s performance. The company says it has introduced new menu items to underscore value, for instance, and is testing new ordering technologies using table-top tablets.

Starboard is lobbying to gain control of Darden’s board of directors at the company’s annual meeting Oct. 10.