Conservative groups renew Ford boycott

Nineteen conservative groups said Monday they would reinstate a boycott of Ford Motor Co., contending the automaker reneged on an agreement to stop supporting gay rights organizations.

The groups set up a Web site urging supporters not to buy Ford vehicles after the automaker said last December it would continue running advertisements in gay publications. The American Family Association, which is leading this latest effort, had originally called for a boycott of Ford last year but suspended it for six months at the request of some Ford dealers.

“Ford has the right to financially support homosexual groups promoting homosexual marriage, but at the same time consumers have a right not to purchase automobiles made by Ford,” said AFA Chairman Donald Wildmon in a statement.

Joe Laymon, Ford’s group vice president for corporate human resources, said in December he hoped the decision would “remove any ambiguity about Ford’s desire to advertise to all important audiences and put this particular issue to rest.”

Ford shares rose 2 cents, to close at $7.86 on the New York Stock Exchange.

“Kmart Corp. agreed Monday to a $13 million settlement of a class-action lawsuit over access for disabled shoppers, a company spokesman said.

The agreement, filed in Denver federal court, also gives the company 7 1/2 years to bring its stores nationwide into compliance with federal standards for merchandise, counters, restrooms, fitting rooms and parking lots.

The $13 million includes $8 million in cash and $5 million in gift cards. It will be distributed to class-action plaintiffs in California, Colorado, Hawaii, Massachusetts, New York, Oregon and Texas, whose laws have minimum damages for failing to comply with disability access laws, said plaintiffs’ attorney Amy F. Robertson.

The suit was originally filed with three plaintiffs in 1999.

“The European parent of the maker of Airbus aircraft is considering manufacturing some planes in China, but a top executive said Monday the company won’t make a final decision until summer.

“Asia is the biggest growth area,” Tom Enders, chief executive officer of European Aeronautic Defense and Space Co., said at a news conference. He said EADS hopes to make a final decision between July and September.

The planes to be made in China would be commercial aircraft produced by Airbus. EADS owns 80 percent of Airbus, based in Toulouse, France.