Shirley “Rae” Ellis, a Costco assistant warehouse manager, filed a national sex discrimination class action lawsuit against Costco on Tuesday, accusing the company of discriminating against women in promotions to store manager.
The lawsuit, filed in a U.S. District Court in San Francisco, charges that Costco imposes a “glass ceiling” that denies women promotions to high […]

United Parcel Service Inc. discriminates against employees who take certain prescription drugs, a former UPS package sorter said in a lawsuit filed against the shipping company.
Darlene E. Veltri, a 17-year UPS employee, said she was fired in January 2003 after a company drug test discovered traces of the anti-anxiety drug Xanax in her system. Veltri, […]

Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court on Friday reinstated a so-called “lights” cigarettes class action lawsuit against Philip Morris USA. The lawsuit claims Philip Morris advertised Marlboro Lights as less harmful than other brands.
In a 4-3 decision, the court ruled that Massachusetts’ Consumer Protection laws require the trial court to allow the case to proceed as a […]

Wyeth on Thursday said that a Pennsylvania jury found in its favor in four combined Fen Phen cases were plaintiffs claimed the company’s diet drugs Pondimin and Redux caused them heart-valve damage.
The jury found that Wyeth had not been negligent in its marketing of Pondimin or Redux, and also found that the plaintiffs had failed […]

Robert A. Smith said he had a blood vessel burst in his brain, resulting in a stroke in May 2002, after taking an Herbalife product with ephedra, according to the lawsuit filed against Herbalife on his behalf in U.S District Court in Manhattan.
Smith is just one of the many individuals who are suing ephedra manufactures […]

A proposed settlement between drugmaker Wyeth and attorneys representing more than 100,000 former Fen Phen users, would expedite the review of the least serious but numerous claims, while allowing Wyeth to pay drastically reduced settlements.
The agreement, labeled the 7th Amendment, creates a $1.25 billion fund for a new class of Trust members, who opt […]

Farmed salmon have much higher levels of toxic chemical fire retardants polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) than wild salmon, according to a study published Monday in the journal Environmental Science and Technology.
PBDEs have been linked to brain and nerve damage.
Studies show that PBDEs have been increasing exponentially over the past 25 years as contaminants in breast […]

Bayer AG has agreed to pay $1.08 billion to settle 2,825 Baycol lawsuits out of court, and has 7,906 cases pending, Reuters reported on Monday.
The company withdrew its anti-cholesterol drug Baycol in August 2001, after it was linked to as many as 100 deaths.
(via Reuters)

Environmental Working Group last week called on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to fine DuPont for illegally hiding information about the risks of injury from the synthetic chemical Perflourooctanoic Acid (PFOA), which is used to manufacture some Teflon products.
Teflon is one of DuPont’s most valuable assets, but it’s potentially a huge liability for the company.
Last […]

The government is increasing its ability to monitor average Americans by tapping into the growing amount of consumer data being collected by corporations, according to a report released Monday by the American Civil Liberties Union, an organization that defends civil liberties.
“The U.S. security establishment is reaching deeper and deeper into our private lives by forcing […]