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Byline: -- Staff and Wire Services

Union: Westin discipline illegal

Thirty-nine Westin LAX hotel employees were illegally suspended for wearing pro-union buttons, the employees' union complained Thursday to the National Labor Relations Board.

The Unite Here Local 11 chapter's complaint to the NLRB claims the Westin LAX ``discriminated against employees'' to discourage workers from ``unionizing their workplace,'' according to the union.

Telephone calls to Westin spokespersons were not immediately returned.

Apple earnings likely overstated

AN FRANCISCO -- Apple Computer Inc. warned Thursday that it probably will wipe out some of its profits recorded since 2002 after uncovering more evidence that it improperly accounted for employee stock options.

Without providing specifics, the Cupertino-based maker of Macintosh computer and iPod music players said it had found more stock option trouble since first announcing its internal investigation into ``irregularities'' in late June.

The new problems were serious enough to prompt the company to alert the Securities and Exchange Commission and hire an outside lawyer to take over the investigation.

Signaling that years of earnings may need to be revised, Apple also advised investors to disregard financial statements dating back to September 2002 -- a period that covers one of the most prosperous stretches during the company's 30-year history.

AOL to dump as many as 5,000

NEW YORK -- AOL said Thursday it would drop as many as 5,000 employees, or a quarter of its global work force, within six months as the company restructures its business to draw more online advertising dollars.

The announcement came a day after the Time Warner Inc. unit said it would no longer charge high-speed Internet customers for e-mail and other services.

An unknown number of European employees will still have jobs but with a different company as AOL looks to shed its Internet access businesses in France, Germany and the United Kingdom. AOL currently has 3,000 access employees in Europe.

But massive layoffs around the world are expected as AOL stops actively marketing its dial-up services in the United States and reduces its need for customer-support centers.

CBS has higher gains for Q2

NEW YORK -- CBS Corp. posted higher earnings for its second quarter Thursday on unusual items, including a tax benefit and a gain on the sale of its parks division, but revenues declined on weakness in radio.

The broadcasting company earned $781.7 million, or $1.02 per share, for the three months ended June 30 versus $753.8 million, or 94 cents per share, a year ago. The year-ago figures included results from Viacom Inc., which separated from CBS at the beginning of this year, as well as results from its parks division, which it later sold.

The most recent figures included a tax benefit of $129 million and earnings from discontinued operations of $291.9 million, which mainly reflected a gain on the sale of its Paramount Parks division to Cedar Fair LP.

Excluding those items, CBS earned $360.8 million, or 47 cents per share, versus $380.1 million a year ago, which was also equivalent to 47 cents per share due to fewer shares outstanding.

Factory orders, retail sales grow

WASHINGTON -- America's factories saw orders grow by the largest amount in three months and retailers scored solid sales, encouraging signs that the economy remains in good shape.

The Commerce Department reported Thursday that new bookings to the nation's manufacturing sector rose by 1.2 percent in June, the most since March. All the strength reflected demand for durable goods, including transportation equipment, computers, and fabricated metal products.

Orders for nondurables, such as food and chemicals, dipped.

The overall showing on factory orders wasn't as strong, though, as the 1.7 percent rise economists were forecasting.