It Figures

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A jury in New Mexico returned 30 guilty verdicts against former state Insurance Superintendent Joe Ruiz, in a case in which Ruiz was accused of trying to coerce insurance companies to donate money to charity in exchange for reducing regulatory fines. Ruiz, 66, will face prison time at sentencing, which is expected to occur in the next couple of months. He and his family were shocked when the verdicts were read, the Associated Press reported. Ruiz was indicted last August on charges of mail fraud, wire fraud, deprivation of honest services, extortion, corrupt solicitation and aiding and abetting.

$10.2 Million

A federal appeals court panel upheld a lower court’s decision ordering the U.S. Forest Service and a snowmobiler to pay nearly $10.2 million to a Michigan man who suffered severe brain injuries when he was struck by a snowmobile near West Yellowstone, Mont., in 1996. The panel’s 20-page opinion stems from a February 2004 decision by U.S. District Judge Donald Molloy of Missoula. Molloy ruled that the Forest Service must pay 40 percent of the award for the crash, which left Brian Musselman of Hope, Mich., with permanent disabilities. Molloy determined the Forest Service failed to fix dangerous conditions along the groomed trail, or to warn snowmobilers of the hazard. He assigned 50 percent of the liability in the crash to Jamie Leinberger of Bay City, Mich., one of two snowmobilers Musselman’s family originally sued.

$318 Million

Allstate said the $318 million in catastrophe losses it experienced due to the Southern California wildfires in October 2007 significantly contributed to the company’s reduced profits for the fourth quarter of last year. Total catastrophe losses for the quarter totaled $472 million, compared to $279 million in the fourth quarter of 2006. The increase in cat losses caused Allstate’s profits to drop by more than 37 percent in the fourth quarter of 2007 compared to the same period in 2006, the company said. The fourth quarter net income was $760 million, down $453 million from the same period last year.

$500 Million

U.S. District Judge Peter Dorsey has ruled that Lorene Schaefer, a high-ranking attorney for General Electric Co., can go ahead with her class-action lawsuit against the firm. The suit seeks potential damages of $500 million on behalf of a possible 1,500 female employees of GE for what Schaefer calls the “very male-dominated culture” in the international conglomerate. The judge rejected GE’s motion to keep the lawsuit from being given class-action status. Schaefer, general counsel of Erie, Pa.-based GE Transportation, filed a suit in May 2007 accusing officials of giving unfair preference to men in promotions to top-paying legal jobs.

Topics Lawsuits USA