BRIEFCASE CHARLEY DAMAGE MAY TOP $9 MILLION.

Byline: - Staff and Wire Services

Los Angeles-based Mercury General Corp. reported Thursday that preliminary estimates of its Hurricane Charley-related property and vehicle-related losses range from $7 million to $9 million - $4.6 million to $5.9 million after-tax.

The estimates are based on the number of currently reported claims and the number of unreported claims anticipated as a result of the storm that devastated parts of Florida.

Field response teams have canvassed the damaged areas with claims response vehicles since sunrise on Aug. 15.

Hydrogen autos for UPS deliveries

SANTA MONICA - To help the environment, UPS will start using hydrogen fuel cells to power three of its large package delivery vehicles - including one in Los Angeles, the company announced Thursday.

``Shifting away from a fossil fuel-based economy to a hydrogen economy would be a great environmental and technological achievement,'' said Chris Mahoney, UPS senior vice president of global transportation services.

``UPS is jumping from a small fuel cell car to a medium-duty truck,'' he said. ``We will continue the rapid application of this technology in hopes that in the near future, we can deploy zero-emission engines across our fleet of 88,000 vehicles.''

The first fuel cell Dodge Sprinter will be operated in Los Angeles, according to the company. The two other Sprinters will be used in Sacramento and Ann Arbor, Mich.

Court reinstates suit vs. Sav-on

SAN FRANCISCO - The California Supreme Court reinstated a statewide class-action lawsuit against Sav-on Drug Stores Inc., in which as many as 1,400 workers allege they were wrongly denied overtime pay.

All seven justices unanimously agreed that the former and current store managers and assistant managers could be represented under one lawsuit against the chain, owned by Boise, Idaho-based Albertsons Inc.

The suit alleges that the employees were entitled to overtime pay, despite a California law exempting managers. The workers claim they were not exempt, and said they should have been paid time and a half for work beyond 40 hours a week.

They cited a state law that takes away the exemption if they don't spend more than 50 percent of their day on managerial duties. They claimed the bulk of their overtime was stocking shelves and running cash registers.

The state Supreme Court disagreed with a 2002 Los Angeles state appellate court's decision that dissolved the case. The lower court said the workers did not have similar claims because they performed different tasks for differing times.

Bad flu vaccine found in factory

SAN FRANCISCO - The nation's supply of vaccine for the impending flu season took a big hit Thursday when Chiron Corp. announced it found tainted doses in its factory.

The company said it will hold up shipment of about 50 million shots - about half the supply U.S. health officials had hoped to have on hand this year - while it investigates what went wrong and determines whether the vaccine is safe to use.

U.S. health officials said some people may not get flu shots when they want this year, but that they were hopeful Chiron's production problems are only temporary. Demand typically peaks in October and November.