It's the Law.INSIDER TRADING The chairman of Mexico's Grupo Mexicano Desarollo construction company, his dead brother and the brother's son were indicted INDICTED, practice. When a man is accused by a bill of indictment preferred by a grand jury, he is said to be indicted. in a U.S. court on charges of insider trading. Jorge Eduardo and Jose Luis Ballesteros, who died in a car crash last year, allegedly netted US$3.5 million using confidential information Noun 1. confidential information - an indication of potential opportunity; "he got a tip on the stock market"; "a good lead for a job" steer, tip, wind, hint, lead . LABOR A court in Nicaragua ruled that Royal Dutch/Shell, Dow Chemical, Del Monte, Dole Foods, Standard Fruit and Occidental Chemical exposed their workers to dangerous chemicals. The court ordered the multinationals to pay a total of $1 billion in damages to nearly 4,000 plaintiffs. A class action lawsuit class action lawsuit A lawsuit in which one party or a limited number of parties sue on behalf of a larger group to which the parties belong. For example, investors may bring a class action lawsuit against a brokerage firm that has actively promoted a tax seeking more than $500 million was filed on behalf of 300,000 Mexicans taken to the United States United States, officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. to work on railroads or farms during World War II. The lawsuit claims many of the workers--known as braceras--never received the 10% of their wages that was supposed to be deposited in savings accounts until their return home. Mexico's closed-shop clause favoring unions is illegal, the country's Supreme Court ruled. The decision came in the case of 31 sugar industry workers who were fired after they resigned from one labor union labor union: see union, labor. to form another. www.scjn.gob.mx Nicaragua has a new 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. workday, ending the traditional siesta for 70,000 public workers. The government says the move, which took effect June 1, will save $40 million. Private businesses have the option of changing their schedules or not. PRODUCT LIABILITY A dozen tobacco companies are being sued by the governments of Honduras and Belize, the Brazilian states of Para, Parana and Rodonia, and 11 Brazilian cities, including Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, city, Brazil Rio de Janeiro (rē`ō də zhänā`rō, Port. rē`  thĭ zhənĕē`r . The lawsuits, filed in U.S. courts and seeking several million dollars, claim Phillip Morris, R.J. Reynolds and other cigarette makers hid the dangers and addictiveness of tobacco. Honduras and Belize also claim the companies aided contra-band rings set up to avoid cigarette taxes. FOREIGN INVESTMENT A Canadian court reduced to US$15 million from $16.7 million damages that Mexico must pay Metalclad Corp. Mexico was ordered to pay the U.S. company after the municipality of Guadalcazar, in Mexico's state of San Luis Potosi San Lu·is Po·to·sí A city of central Mexico northeast of León. It was founded in the late 1500s and is a mining, transportation, and industrial center. Population: 659,000. Noun 1. , blocked Metalclad's construction of a waste facility. www.secofi.gov.mx SOURCE: National Law center for Inter-American Free Trade (natlaw@natlaw.com); Translegal Inc. (translegal@earthlink.net) |
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