Ruling of same-sex harassment
The Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination, in its first ruling of discrimination involving members of the same sex, has ruled that a machine operator was sexually harassed by his male supervisor.
The commission awarded Thomas Smith $25,000 in damages for emotional distress after his boss asked Mr. Smith to have sex while on the night shift at Brimfield Precision.
The ruling comes on the heels of two decisions in recent months in which courts in Baltimore and New Orleans found that federal law does not protect employees who are sexually harassed at work by a member of the same sex.
Delta caps agents' commissions
Delta Air Lines Inc., abandoning the fixed 10 percent commission it had been paying to travel agents, said yesterday it will cap commission payments for domestic flights, effective today.
The maximum commission payment for any round-trip domestic ticket with a base fare of more than $500 will be $50, and the maximum for any one-way domestic ticket with a base fare of more than $250 will be $25.
Consumers will not realize any savings on ticket prices as a result of the move.
Greenspan opposes wage rise
Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan said yesterday that he opposes President Clinton's proposal to raise the minimum wage.
The Fed chief, testifying before the House Banking Committee, was asked if he supported the proposed wage increase.
"I do not," he said. He did not elaborate.
Mr. Clinton has proposed raising the minimum wage from $4.25 an hour by 90 cents.
Knight-Ridder to sell trade daily
Media company Knight-Ridder Inc. said yesterday that it will sell the Journal of Commerce, its transportation and international trade daily newspaper, to British-based Economist Group for $115 million.
The deal puts the 168-year-old, New York-based Journal in the hands of a company that publishes the Economist magazine, and which is half owned by Pearson PLC, publisher of the Financial Times.
Iacocca floats casino proposal
Lee Iacocca, who made a fortune in Detroit as an auto executive, hopes to strike it rich again by building a $100 million casino project in the city.
A spokeswoman for Mr. Iacocca said the former Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler Corp. executive met with Detroit Mayor Dennis Archer this week to discuss a proposed Indian-run casino in downtown Detroit.