A Los Angeles jury on Friday cleared tobacco maker Philip Morris of liability in the death of a man who smoked for 35 years and alleged the company misled him by failing to acknowledge the habit was addictive and caused cancer. Fredric Reller, 64, first sued Philip Morris in November 2001. A jury cleared the nation's biggest cigarette maker last August of negligence and misrepresentation in the lawsuit, but deadlocked on one count claiming the company fraudulently concealed the dangers of smoking. Reller died shortly after that verdict, but his widow sought a rehearing on the one deadlocked count and added a count alleging wrongful death. She asked for damages of more than US$17 million. Based on evidence at the trial, "it was clear that the plaintiff's husband made an informed decision as to whether to smoke," said William S. Ohlemeyer, Philip Morris vice president and associate general counsel.
■ Motorcycles
Massive recall for Yamaha
Yamaha Motor Corp. is recalling around 190,000 motorcycles because the passenger seat can fall off the rear fender, federal safety regulators and the company said Friday. The recall affects XV250, XVS11 and XVS65 motorcycles from the 1988-2005 model years, Yamaha spokesman Brad Banister said. The mounting hardware that connects the seat to the fender can loosen when passengers shift their weight, which eventually can cause the seat to fall off, according to a recall notice sent to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Banister said the company knows of two minor injuries caused by the defect. Banister said Yamaha decided to recall the vehicles after reviewing quality control reports on the motorcycles in Japan. ``We constantly monitor this sort of thing because we do care about the safety of our customers,'' Banister said. Yamaha will notify owners about the recall this spring. Dealers will replace the seat's mounting hardware for free.
■ Electronics
Layoffs in Singapore
Maxtor Corp., which makes hard-disk drives for personal computers, is reducing its work force by up to 5,500 people at its Singapore manufacturing operations, according to a regulatory filing Friday. Maxtor, based in Milpitas, California, said roughly 2,500 of the planned job cuts will be achieved through attrition and the rest by severance, according to the Securities and Exchange Commission filing. The reduction stems from its plan to close one of its two plants in Singapore and move its manufacturing of desktop products to China, the filing said. The plant shutdown is expected to be completed by 2006, according to the filing. The severance packages are expected to lower first-quarter earnings by US$12 million.
■ Automobiles
BMW to supply limos
German luxury car maker BMW has tied up with its Singapore dealer to supply 420 chauffeur-driven limousines at the International Monetary Fund and World Bank meeting in September next year. The partnership deal, worth 10 million Singapore dollars (US$6.13 million), was officially marked at a signing ceremony Friday night. The meetings, the world's largest and most comprehensive gatherings of global financial representatives, are held outside the two bodies' Washington base every third year. BMW will provide its 7-series limousines to ferry VIPs from 184 countries for a week of forums and seminars in Singapore.
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