U.S. authorities say the shipping company Horizon Lines LLC has agreed to plead guilty to fixing prices and to pay a $45 million fine.

A Justice Department statement Thursday says the company was accused of conspiring to fix rates and surcharges for freight transportation between the United States and Puerto Rico from May 2002 until April 2008.

Five former executives have been sentenced after pleading guilty in 2008 to charges related to the shipping conspiracy.

The Charlotte, North Carolina-based company has a fleet of 20 U.S.-flagged cargo ships that carry items including heavy equipment, medicines and consumer goods.

In June 2009, the company agreed to pay $20 million to settle a class action price-fixing lawsuit.

Bank of America Corp was hit with a lawsuit on Wednesday claiming the lending giant hid foreclosure problems that eventually led to a decline in its share price.

The suit, a proposed class action, says Bank of America concealed defects in the recording of mortgages, which harmed investors when the company had to temporarily discontinue foreclosures last fall.

"We are reviewing the lawsuit and have no further comment at this time," said Bank of America spokeswoman Shirley Norton.

Along with other lenders like JPMorgan Chase & Co and Wells Fargo, Bank of America has been the subject of scrutiny over its foreclosure practices.

Attorneys General from 50 states kicked off an investigation last year amid questions about legal documents submitted in court.

And while litigation from angry borrowers has mushroomed, many of the leading U.S. class action firms have stayed out of the fray, citing the difficulty of recovering substantial damages.

Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd, a major plaintiff firm known for bringing securities lawsuits, filed the case against Bank of America on Wednesday. Attorney Samuel Rudman was not available to comment.

The plaintiff, a union benefit plan, purchased nearly 25,000 Bank of America shares over three months last year at a high of $19.01, according to the court filing.

The day after news of the AG probe was announced last October, BofA's shares fell 69 cents from the previous day to close at $12.60, the lawsuit says.

It is unclear whether the plaintiff ever sold its shares. The lawsuit proposes a class made up of all who bought the stock between January 20, 2010 and October 19, 2010.

Bank of America concealed the fact that it did not have adequate personnel to process the huge numbers of foreclosed loans in its portfolio, the lawsuit says.

It also claims the bank concealed a practice of omitting billions of dollars in debt from its publicly reported balance sheet.

A $10-million class action lawsuit has been launched against Denny's restaurants in B.C., charging the family friendly diner chain wronged foreign workers by slashing hours, refusing to pay overtime and failing to pay for the workers' round-trip airfare.

The suit, filed Jan. 7, alleges Denny's restaurants in B.C. breached the contracts of more than 50 Filipino workers brought to Canada through the Temporary Foreign Workers Program, from December 2006 to the present. The program allows employers to hire foreigners to fill short-term labour shortages.

Lawyers Charles Gordon and Christopher Foy filed the lawsuit against Denny's parent companies, Northland Properties Corp. and Dencan Restaurants Inc. The lawyers say the suit is needed as foreign workers, eager to establish themselves in Canada and fearful of being sent home, are reticent to speak up when their rights are violated.

"They're put in a highly vulnerable position vis-a-vis their employers," Gordon said. "Many hope to become permanent residents but are afraid of making any waves that may jeopardize that."

The few that do typically face repercussions, Gordon said.

According to the lawsuit, a district manager threatened to send Maria Genalyn Reyes home to the Philippines if she chose to work at a competing restaurant chain once her contract ended.

Alfredo Sales was allegedly fired after demanding outstanding overtime pay and return airfare between the Philippines and Vancouver.

The employment contract signed by the workers states that it is the employer's obligation to pay for the transportation costs between the two countries.

Another worker hasn't been reimbursed for the cost of her airfare, did not consistently receive her promised hours of work and is owed overtime pay, the suit alleges.

A federal judge in Maine yesterday denied class-action status to four lawsuits accusing Philip Morris USA of misleading smokers about the health risks of light cigarettes.

The ruling by U.S. District Judge John A. Woodcock Jr. concerns lawsuits that were filed in Illinois, Maine, California and Washington, D.C., alleging that Henrico County-based Philip Morris USA marketed light cigarettes as healthier than regular cigarettes in violation of various consumer-protection and false-advertising laws.

The lawsuits are among 15 cases that were consolidated for pre-trial proceedings in federal court. In his ruling, Woodcock said the plaintiffs had not met the requirements for class-action status.

"While the judge has yet to rule on the remaining cases in the multidistrict litigation, we believe this decision should serve as a persuasive authority in denying class certification in those and other similar cases as well," said Murray Garnick, senior vice president and associate general counsel for Philip Morris USA parent company Altria Group Inc.

The federal court ruling in Maine yesterday was in contrast to a decision in a separate lawsuit in New Hampshire state court Monday.

In that case, a superior court judge granted class-action status to a lawsuit against Philip Morris USA over its marketing of light cigarettes. A spokesman for Philip Morris USA said the company will appeal that decision to the New Hampshire Supreme Court.

Jury selection begins Tuesday in Los Angeles Superior Court in a lending discrimination class action against Wells Fargo Bank. Class members are loan customers in minority communities in Los Angeles. Plaintiffs’ counsel will be arguing that Wells Fargo consistently and knowingly discriminated against borrowers in minority neighborhoods, resulting in these borrowers paying more for their loans than borrowers in other parts of Los Angeles County. (Opal Jones, et. al v. Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., Wells Fargo Home Mortgage, et. al Los Angeles Superior Court, Case No. BC337821). Judge Anthony J. Mohr is the presiding judge.

When certifying the class last year, Judge Mohr referred to The Unruh Civil Rights Act. The Act makes it illegal to deny, aid or incite a denial, or make any discrimination or distinction on the basis of, among other things, race, color or national origin. This includes the failure or refusal to provide all persons with full and equal advantages and services in all business establishments.

According to the class action filing, Wells Fargo introduced a computer program in 2002 called “Loan Economics,” which gave loan officers the ability to offer discounts to loan applicants that lowered overall loan costs through reduced fees and interest rates. The lawsuit alleges that branches in predominately white communities could use the program to price loans, while bank branches in predominately minority communities were prevented from doing so by Wells Fargo management.

Microsoft took legal action against Motorola on Friday, alleging Motorola's smartphones running Google's Android platform violate Microsoft patents. The suit represents the latest patent battle involving Android.

Horacio Gutierrez, corporate vice president and Microsoft's deputy general counsel of intellectual property and licensing, said the patents relate to core functionalities of Motorola's Android phones, including synchronizing email, calendars and contacts, scheduling meetings and notifying applications of changes in signal strength and battery power. Microsoft is seeking unspecified monetary damages and a permanent injunction on allegedly infringing Motorola products.

Motorola said it will "vigorously defend itself" against the charges.

"We are disappointed that Microsoft prefers to compete over old patents rather than new products," a Google spokesman told the Wall Street Journal. "While we are not a party to this lawsuit, we stand behind the Android platform and the partners who have helped us to develop it."

The suit is notable as Microsoft is preparing to introduce phones running its new Windows Phone 7 platform--which will compete against Android phones. Motorola, once a strong supporter of Microsoft's previous Windows Mobile platform, has thrown its support fully into the Android camp. According to research firm Gartner, Android had 17.2 percent of the smartphone market in the second quarter, and Apple's (NASDAQ:AAPL) iOS had 14.2 percent. Windows Mobile captured 5 percent of the market, down from 9.3 percent in the second quarter of 2009.

The Connecticut judge presiding at the trial of a man charged in a deadly home invasion remains hospitalized, but a hospital spokesman says his condition has been upgraded to good from fair.

Yale-New Haven Hospital spokesman Mark D'Antonio told The Associated Press that Judge Jon Blue remained at the hospital Monday morning. D'Antonio would not disclose Blue's ailment and says it's not clear when the judge will be discharged.

The trial of Steven Hayes began last week and was supposed to resume Monday morning in New Haven Superior Court. It has been postponed until Wednesday.

Hayes and another man are charged in the killings of Jennifer Hawke-Petit and her 11- and 17-year-old daughters at their Cheshire home in 2007. They face the possibility of the death penalty if convicted.