Settlements

The City Council on Wednesday agreed to pay nearly $13 million to people injured or mistreated in a May Day melee in MacArthur Park, bringing to more than $30 million the money spent over the last two weeks to settle lawsuits alleging LAPD misconduct. The action served as a reminder of the Los Angeles Police Department's troubled past and its continuing path toward regaining the trust of some city residents and elected officials. For the LAPD, Wednesday's $12.

Anthem Blue Cross, the state's largest for-profit health insurer, has agreed to pay a $1-million fine and offer new coverage -- no questions asked -- to 2,330 people it dropped after they submitted bills for expensive medical care. As part of a deal that the California Department of Insurance is set to announce today, Anthem also will offer to reimburse those people for medical expenses that they paid out of pocket after they were dropped.

Chrysler's bankruptcy is throwing a wrench into California's lemon law, which is intended to make it easier for consumers to get refunds for defective vehicles. As the automaker's bankruptcy grinds away, settlement checks from Chrysler to unhappy car buyers are bouncing and complaints are stymied in and out of court. Consumer advocates say the situation could erode public confidence in buying new cars at precisely the time the automakers need customers in their showrooms.

A judge has ruled in favor of five mobile home park residents near Canoga Park who alleged that the park owner failed to make repairs and allowed dangerous conditions to persist for years, including a faulty electrical system that had been cited more than 100 times by state inspectors. Based on an eight-day trial held in April, Judge Gregory C.

The Los Angeles City Council approved a $20.5-million settlement Wednesday to bring to a close lawsuits brought by four Los Angeles Police officers who alleged that they were falsely arrested and maliciously prosecuted during the city's Rampart police corruption scandal that began in the late 1990s.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the world's largest retailer, will pay $17.5 million to settle a lawsuit claiming that the company discriminated against African Americans in recruiting and hiring truck drivers. The lawsuit was filed in 2004 by Daryal Nelson, who claimed that he was rejected for a truck driver position because of his race. The lawsuit was given class-action status in May 2007. Wal-Mart's motions to dismiss the case or decertify the class were denied last month.

The wise-cracking Chihuahua who earned millions for Taco Bell Corp. -- and some criticism from Latinos as an ethnic stereotype -- has a new slogan: "?Yo quiero mi dinero!" -- I want my money! A federal appeals court Friday ruled that Taco Bell is solely liable for $42 million in breach-of-contract awards to two Michigan men who created the diminutive mascot that starred in the Irvine fast-food giant's hit $500-million advertising campaign in the 1990s.

In one of the nation's largest settlements in a whistle-blower case, Northrop Grumman Corp. has agreed to pay the federal government $325 million to resolve claims that TRW, which it acquired in 2002, provided defective parts for a spy satellite program in the 1990s.

Warner Bros. and 20th Century Fox reached a settlement Thursday night on their copyright dispute over the superhero movie "Watchmen," concluding a legal drama between two Hollywood studios that threatened to upend one of the spring's biggest movies. The agreement paves the way for Warner Bros. to release "Watchmen" as planned March 6.

After Anthony Goodrow complained that he had been brutalized by Hawthorne police officers during an arrest nearly three years ago, department officials said they "conducted an in-depth and thorough internal investigation." Their conclusion: Officers acted appropriately and did not use excessive force. That finding, however, appears at odds with the city's payment of $1 million in late January to settle Goodrow's lawsuit alleging excessive force.