Declarations

Did Lott settle for lots?

“We are pleased to have reached a tentative agreement to settle Senator Lott’s claim and to have avoided litigation that might have been lengthier and more expensive for both parties.”

State Farm spokesman Fraser Engerman comments on the settlement his company reached with U.S. Sen. Trent Lott, R- Miss. The lawsuit Lott filed against Bloomington-Ill.-based State Farm Fire and Casualty Co. was for refusing to cover Hurricane Katrina’s damage to his Gulf Coast home. Terms of Lott’s settlement with State Farm were not disclosed. Zach Scruggs, one of the senator’s attorneys, said he expects the deal to be completed early this week. State Farm agreed in January to pay about $80 million to up to 640 policyholders, including Lott, who sued the Bloomington, Ill.-based insurer. Most of those policyholders have accepted the settlement and received their money, but Lott was among a handful of plaintiffs who have balked at settling.

Ability, merit, not age

“Employment decisions must be based on ability and merit, not age. When corporate downsizings occur, employers must make sure that age discrimination is not a factor in dismissing older workers with records of outstanding service.”

Comments made by Jean Kamp, acting regional attorney for the EEOC office in St. Louis regarding the case against Lucent Technologies. The firm will now have to pay $195,000 to settle an age discrimination lawsuit filed on behalf of a 55-year-old worker who lost his job after more than three decades with the telecommunications equipment maker, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission said. The EEOC filed suit last year on behalf of Thomas Cross. After 34 years with Lucent and its predecessor companies, Cross was laid off in 2002 from his job as an estimator in the company’s St. Louis Estimating Department.

Public or private info?

“Can I tell you it’s worked perfectly every time? I can’t tell you that.”

Chief Counsel Keith Jensen comments on allegations that the Illinois State Police routinely turn down requests for public information, whether from grieving relatives, insurance companies deciding whether to pay a claim or even other police officers doing research, a review shows. The policy extends to withholding reports on murders that occurred decades ago on the grounds that even dead people have a right to privacy, The (Springfield) State Journal-Register reported. The agency sometimes protects its own privacy, too. It waited five months before finally disclosing how much had been spent on lawyers handling an employment discrimination case against the agency.