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Royal Dutch/Shell Group agreed to pay about $90 million to settle a lawsuit brought by its U.S. employees after the company overstated its oil and gas reserves by 41 percent. The accord brings to about $240 million costs related to the overstatement, which led to lawsuits, criminal investigations and the ouster of Chief Executive Philip Watts. Insurance will cover $25 million of the settlement, Shell said in a statement July 12, 2005.

A federal judge granted class action status for a lawsuit two Chicago men filed against the City of Chicago for alleged mistreatment while in police custody, a ruling that could involve thousands of people. The ruling by Judge Robert Gettleman in U.S. District Court did not decide if the men's claims were true, but the two groups it created under the lawsuit--one involving people detained during a certain period and other involving the conditions in which detainees were held--could greatly increase the number of plaintiffs.

A class action has been filed against New York-area papers Newsday, Inc., and Spanish-language Hoy, LLC, both owned by Chicago-based Tribune Company, on behalf of all commercial advertising customers of the papers who paid for any advertising at rates which were based upon the defendants' representations as to the newspapers’ circulation. The action alleges that the newspapers misrepresented their circulation figures over a period of years, so that advertising rates charged to commercial advertisers were artificially inflated, in violation of New York’s deceptive business practices act.

When a car rental agency in Illinois books a car rental for you in Europe, it is supposed to tell you how much your Value Added Tax will be. The parties have reached a tentative $114,000 settlement in a class action against car rental booking agency Destination Europe Resources, Inc. on behalf of all persons who rented cars for use in Europe either directly from Destination Europe or through a travel agent, during the period July 1, 1998, through June 30, 2001.

The class has been certified in an action filed against the Roman Catholic Diocese of Covington, Kentucky, on behalf of persons who allege that between January 1, 1956, and the present, priests or members of religious orders employed by the Diocese sexually abused them while they were still minors, in violation of Kentucky common law. Class members should contact class counsel for more information.

Class-action status is being sought in a lawsuit alleging sexual abuse over a 50 year period at a Roman Catholic orphanage in Jefferson County, Kentucky. The suit was filed by Kentucky lawyers in 2004. The suit was filed against the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth and the Archdiocese of Louisville's Catholic Charities. The case alleges sexual abuse and other physical abuse over a 50 year period, primarily at three Kentucky orphanages.

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