It Figures

$500

Pine Bluff, Ark.’s new fire chief is so fed up with arsons at abandoned homes in his city that he’s reaching into his own wallet to try and stop the blazes. The Associated Press reported that Don Horton will offer a reward of up to $500 of his own salary to those providing information leading to the arrest of whoever is setting the fires. Fire officials say they’ve fought more than 100 arson fires last year alone.

$500 Million

U.S. District Judge Peter Dorsey ruled that Lorene Schaefer, an attorney for General Electric Co., can proceed with her class-action lawsuit against the firm. The suit seeks potential damages of $500 million on behalf of a possible 1,500 female employees. Schaefer, general counsel of Erie, Pa.-based GE Transportation, filed a suit in May 2007 accusing the company of giving unfair preference to men in promotions to top-paying legal jobs. The judge rejected GE’s motion to keep the lawsuit from being given class-action status.

$6,300

The federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration fined Southwest Industrial Gases, a welding gas distribution facility, $6,300 in connection with a spectacular acetylene gas explosion near downtown Dallas last summer that sent metal canisters flying into the air. But the government citations don’t conclude that the violations caused the blast. The citations say the company exposed workers to serious hazards that were likely to cause death or serious physical harm, according to the Associated Press. The July 25 explosions caused more than $2.3 million in damage and sent plumes of smoke higher than some skyscrapers. OSHA said the Southwest Industrial Gases plant could have reduced the fire risk by putting in a sprinkler system in the loading dock.

$1,591,264

Texas Department of Insurance enforcements for December 2007 resulted in eight license revocations, four license denials, and fines and restitution totaling $1,591,264, the department reported. The largest single fine was assessed against Lyndal Ray Stocks of Houston, for allegedly marketing “unauthorized and illegal health care plans” and engaging in “unfair and deceptive acts or practices.”

400

In an expense-cutting move, Itasca, Ill.-based insurance brokerage Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. says it will reduce its workforce by cutting as many as 400 back office jobs. Gallagher reported a drop in profit for the fourth quarter and announced it would sell its global reinsurance operation and its small Ireland-based wholesale brokerage.