Business briefs 3/3/04

Honda recalls 440,000 Civic and Insight cars

WASHINGTON -- Honda Motor Co. is recalling 440,000 Civic and Insight cars because their low-beam headlights can fail without warning, the company said Tuesday. No injuries have resulted from the defect, Honda spokesman Andy Boyd said. The recall involves 2001-2002 model year Civics and 2000-2002 model year Insights. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, which also announced the recall, the headlights' wire harness can overheat and cause the low-beam headlights to fail. Boyd said drivers could still use their high-beam headlights in all cases.

$100 million settlement reached suit against IBM

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. -- A $100 million lawsuit blaming a woman's birth defects on her mother's working conditions at an IBM factory was apparently settled Tuesday just as jury selection was to start. The terms were not released. The office of the presiding federal judge said that the case had been concluded but that no details would be released. Candace Curtis, 22, alleged that she suffered retardation because her mother inhaled noxious fumes while dipping silicon wafers into harsh chemicals at an IBM plant in Fishkill. Curtis was born without kneecaps and with a deformed skull. It was not clear whether any settlement would apply to more than just the Curtis case. There are more than 200 cancer or birth-defect cases around the country against IBM still awaiting trial.

Warner Music slashes 1,000 jobs, ousts chiefs

NEW YORK -- Warner Music Group announced 1,000 job cuts and a shake-up of top management on Tuesday, one day after Edgar Bronfman Jr. closed a deal to buy the company from Time Warner Inc. The job cuts, equivalent to 20 percent of Warner Music Group's global work force, will take place over the next month. Warner Music said in a statement it was taking the steps to better compete in the "challenging business environment of today's music industry."

-- From wire reports