Briefcase

Gender pay gap is greater here

Women in the U.S. earn 77 cents for every dollar earned by men, and women in Washington and Idaho get an even smaller share, according to a study released Monday by the National Partnership for Women and Families.

In Washington, a woman working full-time is paid $38,521, a man $51,305. The gap – 25 cents per dollar – creates an $11.1 billion difference in total wages for all women.

If pay were equal, women would be able to buy almost two years worth of food, make seven more monthly mortgage payments, or 14 more months of rent.

Idaho women earn $29,122, men $40,440, a gap of 26 cents per dollar, and a total differential of $2.1 billion.

The gap represents 85 more weeks of food, nine months of mortgage payments, or 16 months of rent.

Bert Caldwell

Itron deal worth $270 million

Liberty Lake-based Itron Inc. announced Monday it has signed a $270 million contract to provide smart electric meters to BC Hydro, the major utility serving residents and businesses in British Columbia.

The deal involves providing roughly 2 million new meters in the next two years.

The meters will help the utility save about $70 million in electric rates for customers through more efficient power management in the first three years after the deployment, Itron said.

Itron is the leading provider of meters and metering software for the electric, water and natural gas industries.

Tom Sowa

CHS accused of bilking Medicare

Tenet Healthcare has charged rival hospital operator Community Health Systems with systematically bilking Medicare, and the burgeoning legal fight sent shares of the entire sector sliding Monday.

The charges come months after Community launched a $3 billion hostile takeover bid for Tenet.

Tenet said in a complaint filed Monday that it estimates improper Medicare billings of between $280 million and $377 million over three years, beginning in 2006, for as many as 82,000 patients. CHS rejected the claims.

Associated Press

Court: Facebook deal binding

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Monday that former Harvard University schoolmates of Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg can’t undo their 2008 settlement over creation of the social networking site Facebook.

The deal with Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss had called for a $20 million cash payment and a partial ownership of Facebook.

The settlement is now worth more than $160 million because of Facebook’s increased valuation.

Associated Press