Protecting What's Right

With a weeklong window of favorable weather opening in the Gulf of Mexico, the White House is pressing BP to move quickly on two new operations that could double the amount of oil captured from the leaking wellhead.

An oil recovery ship known as the Helix Producer has been waiting near the well for over a week, unable to assist in crude collection due to high winds and waves from Hurricane Alex. The ship is capable of capturing up to 25,000 barrels of crude a day.

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Lucasfilm Ltd., the company started by George Lucas of “Star Wars” fame, has been slapped with a verdict for lost wages and emotional distress in a suit by a woman whose job offer was withdrawn because she was pregnant.

The film studio had offered the 30-day job as manager of the Lucas estate to the woman, but withdrew the offer after learning she was pregnant.  The company said its reasons for withdrawing the offer were not related to her pregnancy.  The Northern California jury hearing the case sided with the woman, awarding her $113,800 in damages.

For the full story, go to the New York Times.

Thieves are now using a high-tech way to steal consumers’ bank account information at ATM machines.

Scammers are using skimmers, which steal account information stored on the magnetic strip on a credit or debit card, and plastic overlays on the PIN pad to get the cardholder’s personal identification number, or PIN.  Some skimmer devices even text the stolen information directly to the thief.

Fortunately, many banks fully reimburse account thefts if reported timely.  Consumers should carefully review their bank statements and report any suspicious activity to their banks as quickly as possible.

For the full story, go to USA Today.