Click here to subscribe today or Login.
Friday, March 21, 2003 Page: 1C
Broker sues Prudential
A Prudential Securities Inc. broker filed suit against the company,
alleging she was passed over for promotion and discriminated against because
of her gender.
Susan Ostrowski of Kingston Township is seeking unspecified damages from
Prudential in the sex discrimination suit.
In the suit filed March 14 in U.S. District Court for the Middle District
of Pennsylvania, Ostrowski, who has been with Prudential since 1985, said she
performed her duties professionally and competently and received favorable
feedback.
Ostrowski singled out branch manager David Capin for interfering with her
ability to manage her clients’ accounts and conduct business. She said he
dismissed her complaints about his discriminatory treatment of her. Likewise,
company human resource and equal opportunity representatives did not act on
her complaints.
According to the suit, Ostrowski was not considered for the financial
adviser-in-charge and qualified delegate positions in March 2001 even though
she was qualified.
She said Capin told her to concentrate on her team and leave managerial
duties to people better liked by their co-workers.
In addition, Ostrowski said Capin canceled her phone calling card without
notice, prevented her from attending educational conferences and edited her
advertisements to omit information about her while doing none of that to male
brokers.
Highmark reduces surplus
Highmark Inc. announced Thursday it reduced its surplus by $200 million and
used the money to support health care in western Pennsylvania.
Highmark operates as Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield in western
Pennsylvania and Capital Blue Cross and Pennsylvania Blue Shield in central
Pennsylvania.
The company’s reserves declined from $2.1 billion in 2001 to $1.9 billion
in 2002.
The state requires a surplus so that insurers can pay out benefits during
financially difficult times.
Some companies have secured surpluses far bigger than the required minimum.
Highmark said $118 million in grants was given to western Pennsylvania
hospitals, some of it to a new children’s hospital being built in Pittsburgh.
Federal deficit skyrockets
The government ran up a deficit of $193.9 billion in the first five months
of the 2003 budget year, nearly three times the deficit for the same period a
year earlier.
In February alone, the deficit was $96.3 billion, the largest on record.
A report, released Thursday by the Treasury Department, highlighted the
government’s deteriorating fiscal situation. Record deficits are forecast this
year and next.
The total so far this fiscal year, from October through February, compares
with $67.7 billion a year earlier.
Revenues were down by 8.2 percent to $704.8 billion for the five months.
Federal spending for the five months totaled $898.7 billion, a 7.6 percent
increase over the same period in fiscal 2002.
HealthSouth cleans house
Rocked by claims it faked at least $1.4 billion in profits since 1999,
HealthSouth Corp. began cleaning house Thursday by placing chairman and chief
executive Richard Scrushy on leave.
The company’s longtime auditing firm, Ernst & Young, sought to clear itself
of any involvement. Regulators said Scrushy orchestrated the alleged fraud.
Birmingham-based HealthSouth said directors had put Scrushy, the company’s
founder, on administrative leave. The health care giant said chief financial
officer William T. Owens also was going on leave.
The Securities and Exchange Commission charged in a civil suit filed
Wednesday that the August announcement was part of Scrushy’s scheme to lower
earnings expectations and hide corporate deception.
Bancorp gets dividend
The Board of Directors of Comm Bancorp has declared a dividend of 22 cents
per share for the second quarter of 2003.
The dividend is 10 percent larger than the 20 cents per share declared for
the second quarter of 2002. It is payable July 1 to shareholders of record
June 13.