November 2009 Archives

Cabot Oil & Gas Corporation (NYSE: COG) today announced it has learned that a lawsuit has been filed by a group of Dimock residents who are claiming damage to their property and to water supplies.

Cabot has successfully drilled and completed dozens of natural gas wells in the Dimock area. These activities are heavily regulated pursuant to the Pennsylvania Oil and Gas Act and other environmental laws and regulations. The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection has the responsibility to administer and enforce these laws and to ensure the protection of the residents and the environment. Cabot recently entered into a consent order and agreement with the DEP to provide further assurance that its activities are conducted in full compliance with DEP-administered environmental protection laws. "Cabot continues to cooperate with the DEP to ensure protection of residents and their property," said Dan O. Dinges, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer. "While we respect the right of any resident to seek a judicial solution for a legitimate issue, we see no merit in these claims and are disappointed that these citizens felt it necessary to proceed in this fashion. We do not believe this matter will impact our continuing operations in the area."

SOURCE Cabot Oil & Gas Corporation

BJ's Wholesale Club (NYSE: BJ) announced today that the Company has recorded an $11.7 million pre-tax charge in connection with settling a claim relating to the classification of various employees as exempt from overtime wages.

Under the settlement, which still must be approved by the federal court, certain current and former mid-level managers will be eligible to receive payments to compensate them for particular hours worked in prior years.

"BJ's Wholesale Club values the role each team member plays in serving our Members and helping our Company succeed and grow," said Sue Hoffman, Senior Vice President and Chief Personnel Officer at BJ's Wholesale Club. "As such, it was important that we move quickly to address and resolve this matter."

The issue of job classification faces nearly all employers in the retail industry. BJ's is compliant with applicable federal and state wage and hour laws. The settlement of the lawsuit is not an admission on the part of the Company of any wrongdoing.

The number of employees who will receive compensation and the amount of each settlement will not be known until the Court proceeds with final approval of the settlement terms and all employee claims are submitted. BJ's Wholesale Club will work with the settlement administrator in the months to follow as the parties establish the process through which the settlement amount will be allocated and the amount each eligible employee will receive is determined.

SOURCE BJ's Wholesale Club

Kaiser Foundation Hospitals - Kaiser Sunnyside Medical Center, Kaiser Foundation Health Plan of the Northwest and Northwest Permanente P.C., Physicians & Surgeons (collectively, Kaiser NW) has agreed to pay the United States $1,830,322.41 to settle False Claims Act liability, the Justice Department announced today. The United States contends that Kaiser NW billed Medicare between 2000 and 2004 for hospice services that had been provided by the Kaiser Northwest Region Hospice without obtaining written certifications of terminal illness required under the federal health care program.

Medicare hospice care providers like Kaiser Northwest Region Hospice must obtain written certifications of terminal illness for each hospice beneficiary's initial certification period (the first 90 days of care) from the medical director of the hospice and the individual beneficiary's attending physician, if the beneficiary has one. Medicare requires a hospice to obtain these certifications prior to billing Medicare in order to help ensure that hospice care is medically necessary.

In June 2005, Kaiser NW submitted a report to the Department of Health and Human Service's Office of Inspector General disclosing that between October 2000 and March 2004, there were instances in which Kaiser NW did not obtain written certifications of terminal illness for hospice beneficiaries prior to billing Medicare for the beneficiaries' initial certification period. The settlement announced today resulted from the company's disclosure.

"By requiring that health care providers comply with Medicare's standards, we ensure that beneficiaries receive hospice care that is medically necessary and meets appropriate medical standards," said Tony West, Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department's Civil Division. "We encourage disclosures of this nature and we consider them essential to ensuring the protection of the Medicare Trust Fund."

"This settlement furthers the strong public interest in protecting the integrity of the Medicare program and ensuring the appropriateness of hospice care for Medicare beneficiaries," said Kent Robinson, Acting U.S. Attorney for the District of Oregon.

The case was handled by the Justice Department's Civil Division, the Acting U.S. Attorney for the District of Oregon and the Office of Inspector General of the Department of Health and Human Services.

SOURCE U.S. Department of Justice

Bernstein Litowitz Berger & Grossmann LLP and Berman DeValerio are issuing the following statement regarding the American Home Mortgage Action:

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

EASTERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK

IN RE AMERICAN HOME MORTGAGE (Other OTC: AHMIQ) (Other OTC: AHMMQ) (Other OTC: AHMNQ) SECURITIES LITIGATION, 07-MD-1898 (TCP)

THIS DOCUMENT RELATES TO ALL CLASS ACTIONS

Summary Notice of Pendency of Class Action and Proposed Settlements, Settlement Fairness Hearing, and Motion for Attorneys' Fees and Reimbursement of Litigation Expenses

TO: ALL PERSONS AND ENTITIES WHO PURCHASED OR OTHERWISE ACQUIRED SHARES OF AMERICAN HOME MORTGAGE INVESTMENT CORP. ("AMERICAN HOME") COMMON AND/OR PREFERRED STOCK DURING THE PERIOD FROM JULY 19, 2005 THROUGH AND INCLUDING AUGUST 6, 2007 AND WHO WERE DAMAGED THEREBY, INCLUDING ALL PERSONS OR ENTITIES WHO PURCHASED OR OTHERWISE ACQUIRED AMERICAN HOME COMMON STOCK PURSUANT OR TRACEABLE TO THE REGISTRATION STATEMENTS ISSUED IN CONNECTION WITH SECONDARY OFFERINGS CONDUCTED ON AUGUST 9, 2005 AND APRIL 30, 2007 (TOGETHER THE "OFFERINGS").

PLEASE READ THIS NOTICE CAREFULLY, YOUR RIGHTS WILL BE AFFECTED BY A CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT PENDING IN THIS COURT.

YOU ARE HEREBY NOTIFIED, pursuant to Rule 23 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and an Order of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York, (i) of the pendency of this action (the "Action") as a class action on behalf of the persons and entities described above (the "Class"), except for certain persons and entities who are excluded from the Class by definition; and (ii) that three settlements reached in this Action (i.e., a settlement with the Individual Defendants in the amount of $24 million for the benefit of all Class Members; and settlements with defendant Deloitte & Touche LLP in the amount of $4.75 million, and with underwriter defendants in the amount of $8.5 million for the benefit of a subclass consisting of Class Members who purchased American Home common stock pursuant or traceable to the Offerings through and including August 6, 2007 (the "Offerings Subclass")) have been proposed that will fully and finally settle all claims against and release all Defendants. A hearing will be held before the Honorable Thomas C. Platt, at the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York, 100 Federal Plaza, Courtroom 1040, Central Islip, NY 11722 at 1:30 p.m. on January 13, 2010 (i) to determine whether the proposed Settlements should be approved by the Court as fair, reasonable, and adequate; (ii) to determine whether the Settled Claims against the Settling Defendants and other Released Parties should be dismissed with prejudice; (iii) to determine whether the proposed plan of allocation should be approved by the Court as fair and reasonable; and (iv) to consider the application of Lead Counsel for attorneys' fees and reimbursement of expenses.

IF YOU ARE A MEMBER OF THE CLASS DESCRIBED ABOVE, YOUR RIGHTS WILL BE AFFECTED BY THE PENDING ACTION AND THE SETTLEMENTS, AND YOU MAY BE ENTITLED TO SHARE IN ONE OR MORE OF THE SETTLEMENT FUNDS. If you have not yet received the full printed Notice of Pendency of Class Action and Proposed Settlements, Settlement Fairness Hearing, and Motion for Attorneys' Fees and Reimbursement of Litigation Expenses (the "Notice"), with the attached Claim Form, you may obtain a copy of these documents by contacting the Claims Administrator: In re American Home Mortgage Securities Litigation, c/o Analytics Incorporated, Claims Administrator, P.O. Box 2011, Chanhassen, MN 55317-2011, 1-877-265-3429. Copies of the Notice and Claim Form can also be downloaded from the website maintained by the Claims Administrator, www.amhomemortgagesecuritieslitigation.com, or from Lead Counsel's websites www.blbglaw.com and www.BermanDeValerio.com.

If you are a Class Member (including an Offerings Subclass Member) and do not exclude yourself from the Class, you will be bound by any judgment entered in the Action. To exclude yourself from the Class (including the Offerings Subclass), you must submit a request for exclusion such that it is received no later than December 23, 2009, in accordance with the instructions set forth in the Notice. Any objections to any of the proposed Settlements, the proposed plan of allocation, or the request for attorneys' fees and reimbursement of expenses, must be filed with the Court and delivered to Lead Counsel for the Class and counsel for the applicable Settling Defendants such that they are received no later than December 23, 2009, in accordance with the instructions set forth in the Notice.

PLEASE DO NOT CONTACT THE COURT OR THE CLERK'S OFFICE REGARDING THIS NOTICE. Inquiries, other than requests for the Notice, may be made to Lead Counsel:

    Steven B. Singer, Esq.
    Avi Josefson, Esq.
    Bernstein Litowitz Berger & Grossmann LLP
    1285 Avenue of the Americas
    New York, NY 10019
    (800) 380-8496
    www.blbglaw.com

    or

    Jeffrey C. Block, Esq.
    Kathleen M. Donovan-Maher, Esq.
    Berman DeValerio
    One Liberty Square
    Boston, MA 02109
    (800) 516-9926
    www.BermanDeValerio.com

By Order of the Court

Web site: http://www.blbglaw.com/cases/index

http://www.bermandevalerio.com/Securities/Index.asp

http://www.amhomemortgagesecuritieslitigation.com/

SOURCE Bernstein Litowitz Berger & Grossmann LLP

Leggett & Platt, Incorporated (NYSE: LEG), a diversified manufacturer of engineered components including the Virtu® line of superwide digital printers for solid and textile substrates, has won an agreement to dismissal of a lawsuit by Vutek, Inc. which challenged the validity of two of Leggett & Platt's U.S. patents on Leggett's groundbreaking technology for ultraviolet (UV) curing of ink in superwide format ink jet printers. Vutek agreed to withdraw its challenges to the validity of both of the Leggett patents.

Vutek, a subsidiary of Electronics For Imaging, Inc. (EFI), sued Leggett & Platt in federal court for the Eastern District of Missouri in November 2007, initially alleging invalidity of Leggett's U.S. Patent No. 7,290,874 and later of Leggett's U.S. Patent No. 7,520,602. These patents were based on Leggett's invention of revolutionary methods for quickly curing UV ink under the print head of superwide ink jet printers. The U.S. Patent & Trademark Office issued one of the patents after full review of an earlier appellate court decision declaring a related patent invalid, thus recognizing the importance of Leggett's invention of the first practical 'on the printhead' UV ink curing technology for superwide inkjet printers. The leading printing association, the Specialty Graphic Imaging Association ("SGIA"), also recognized Leggett's pioneering technology by awarding the 2006 DPI Innovator Award to Leggett's inventor, Mr. Richard Codos.

FOR MORE INFORMATION: Visit Leggett's website at www.leggett.com.

COMPANY DESCRIPTION: Leggett & Platt (NYSE: LEG) is a FORTUNE 500 diversified manufacturer that conceives, designs and produces a broad variety of engineered components and products that can be found in most homes, offices, and automobiles. The company serves a broad suite of customers that comprise a "Who's Who" of U.S. manufacturers and retailers. The 126-year-old firm is comprised of 19 business units, 19,000 employee-partners, and more than 160 manufacturing facilities located in 18 countries.

Leggett & Platt is North America's leading independent manufacturer of: a) components for residential furniture and bedding; b) components for office furniture; c) drawn steel wire; d) automotive seat support and lumbar systems; e) carpet underlay; f) adjustable beds; and g) bedding industry machinery for wire forming, sewing and quilting.

SOURCE Leggett & Platt