The company noted that this class action lawsuit settlement will have no impact on earnings and capital in 2007, as it has accrued $74.25 million in 2005 for the potential settlement of the class action lawsuit.

Pamela Kincaid, 51, died Wednesday after friends said she fell four floors from a hospital stairwell.

The Fresno County Coroner's Office has called for an autopsy on Kincaid, who was also assaulted a few weeks before her death, said Dr. David Hadden, the county coroner. Kincaid was hospitalized after that attack with bruises on her head and abrasions on her body and face, according to police.

Kincaid was among a group of homeless people who sued the city last year for seizing and destroying their property during the raids. A federal judge granted the lawsuit class-action status Monday, which allows other homeless people who claim their personal property was taken and destroyed by the city to join the case.

In November, U.S. District Court Judge Oliver W. Wanger ordered the city to stop taking homeless people's property while the lawsuit made its way through court.

PharmaNet was formerly known as SFBC International Inc.

Under the settlement agreement, the class will be paid $28.5 million, of which $24.5 million will be in cash and $4 million may be either in cash or in stock, at the election of the company. The settlement requires contributions from a number of different defendants, and specifically requires certain of the company's former directors, officers and employees to make a personal contribution towards the settlement of the class' claims.

"We are pleased to have reached a settlement of this securities class action on terms that provide a significant benefit to the class, while permitting the company and its new management to focus on the future. We believe that the personal contribution portion of this settlement sends a clear message that shareholders will insist that the directors, officers and employees of publicly traded companies live up to their responsibilities to act as vigilant guardians for the interests of the shareholders they represent," said Paul Doane, director of ATRS.

The lawsuit, which originally was filed in 2004, had alleged the Novartis unit was discriminatory in its pay, promotions, evaluations and treatment of women who take pregnancy leave. A Novartis spokesman declined to comment, saying the company had just received the judge's order and was reviewing it.

Aquila admitted no wrongdoing as part of the settlement, Butkus said. The company will record the $10.5 million charge in its second or third quarter, he said.

The proposed settlement was filed Monday with the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri.

The suit was filed in late September 2004 in the U.S. District Court in Kansas City. A former employee sued the Kansas City-based company (NYSE: ILA) and its board of directors for promoting the company's stock as a "conservative" investment for participants in the company's retirement plan.

The class included more than 7,000 current and former employees who put Aquila stock into the company's retirement plan from 1999 to May 5, 2004.

A hearing on the settlement' s final approval has been scheduled on Nov. 13 before U.S. District Judge Dean Whipple.

After both of the parties contacted Microsoft and reported the problem, they were refused reimbursement or replacement discs. That’s when they decided to take legal action.

Microsoft has acknowledged the obvious defects in its consoles with the red rings of death, but they have yet to acknowledge any defects in their console which scratches discs. Perhaps they will have to add on to the $1 billion they’ve already set aside to deal with the red rings.