Business: Business digest

HP SETTLES CLASS-ACTION SUIT: Hewlett-Packard Co., the world's largest computermaker, agreed to pay $28.6-million to settle a class-action lawsuit filed by a former stockholder of its Compaq Computer Corp. unit. The lawsuit, filed by Mark Berger in federal court in Houston in April 1998, contended some Compaq executives artificially inflated the stock price by issuing misleading statements while selling their shares. Hewlett-Packard bought Houston-based Compaq in May for $18.9-billion. U.S. District Judge Vanessa Gilmore approved the preliminary settlement last week and scheduled a final hearing for Nov. 1, according to court documents. Former Compaq stockholders will have to apply for a share of the settlement.

WORLDCOM SUES FORMER CFO: WorldCom Inc. filed a federal lawsuit against former chief financial officer Scott Sullivan, who was fired after the company revealed it had improperly accounted for nearly $4-billion in expenses. The battered telecommunications giant is demanding that Sullivan, 40, pay back the $10-million bonus he received last year. The suit was filed Friday in U.S. District Court in Jackson, Miss. Also, WorldCom will continue its in-house probe of accounting problems, despite a Department of Justice request that the ailing telecom desist, a source familiar with the company told the Associated Press on Friday.

DAIMLERCHRYSLER SEAT BELT SUIT NAMED CLASS-ACTION: A lawsuit against DaimlerChrysler AG challenging the safety of a seat-belt buckle was granted nationwide class-action status by a Texas judge. The suit on behalf of owners of about 14-million Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep vehicles focuses on a buckle known as the Gen 3. At least three deaths have been blamed on the buckle, which the suit says is prone to unlatching during accidents, or unlatching from around child and infant car seats in turns and sudden stops. Suits filed in Texas, California, Ohio, Massachusetts and Georgia claim the seat belt buckles are defective and release on impact, making it look as if accident victims weren't wearing a seat belt. Attorneys for the plaintiffs in the Texas case said today that four more deaths are being investigated in connection with the seat belt buckles, which are used in models such as the Dodge Viper and Caravan.

US AIRWAYS, PILOTS CONTINUE TALKS: US Airways Group Inc.'s pilots union said the two sides agreed on pay concessions and continued talks on other cost-cutting issues as the seventh-largest U.S. airline tries to avoid bankruptcy. Major unresolved issues include job security and compensation such as an equity stake in exchange for concessions, said Air Line Pilots Association spokesman Roy Freundlich. The union and the airline planned to negotiate through the weekend if a complete agreement was not reached Friday night, he said.

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