The lawsuit, which also names Hilton as a defendant, says Ross Klein, global head of Hilton luxury and lifestyle brands, and Amar Lalvani, global head of Hilton luxury and lifestyle brand development, took information that Hilton used to speed its entry into the lifestyle hotel market and reposition its luxury brands while saving money.

Klein is the former president for Starwood’s luxury brands, and Lalvani the former senior vice president for Starwood luxury brands group. The two were recruited by Hilton in June 2008, Starwood said.

Starwood said the two were “aided and abetted by Hilton,” in stealing the information.

The lawsuit alleges that Klein and Lalvani — sometimes helped by other Starwood employees they recruited to Hilton — stole more than 100,000 electronic files before and after they joined Hilton, a violation of their contracts.

The EEOC’s 2003 lawsuit against American Tack and Hardware Inc. said the company was responsible for “repeated and egregious sexual harassment and retaliation.”

The company, and its parent company, Amertac Holdings Inc., moved from Monsey to Saddle River, N.J. in 2005.

The EEOC said the harassment included comments, jokes, touching and verbal and physical intimidation of women. Some employees who complained about the conduct were fired or disciplined, the EEOC said.

The lawsuit named the chief financial officer, Richard Frant, and the vice president for information technology, John DiStefano, as offenders.

The lawsuit said women were shown pornographic images on a computer. The lawsuit said Frant would describe his experiences with prostitutes and sex shops, tell sexual jokes and sexually taunt a pregnant employee.

Attempts to reach the company and its lawyers were unsuccessful.

Michael Koplen, a Nanuet lawyer, represented Elisa Taylor, who filed the original EEOC complaint with Shana Van Dunk. He said that when his clients went to the EEOC to get what’s called a “right to sue” letter, the EEOC was so shocked by the allegations that it wanted to get involved in the lawsuit.

Koplen later handed the case over to Manhattan-based lawyer Parisis G. Filippatos. A number of other women came forward, bringing the total number of plaintiffs into the teens, Filippatos said.

The settlement, approved by U.S. District Court Judge Stephen C. Robinson in White Plains, calls for the victims of the harassment to receive compensation for taking part in the suit. It also calls for the distribution of anti-discrimination and anti-retaliation policies.

The company and its employees will also receive training about discrimination law.
The company makes decorative wall plates, matching decorative hardware, lighting and lighting controls.

Wyeth lawyers cited the deposition testimony of Nadine Aspilaire, who worked at the company’s Pearl River campus from 2000 through January 2005, to bolster their argument that U.S. District Court Judge William C. Conner should dismiss her lawsuit.

Aspilaire, who took a job at Par Pharmaceutical Cos. Inc. after leaving Wyeth, is one of seven black current and former Wyeth employees to sue the company alleging race discrimination. A judge dismissed two suits and a jury rule in the company’s favor in another.

Aspilaire worked as a packaging operator and biological operator. She alleged she faced discrimination in pay, hours and promotions because of her race.

Aspilaire and her lawyer said in court papers that she made a number of complaints to the human resources department, managers and her union shop steward that she was being treated differently than white workers.

But the company maintains that she testified differently in her deposition.

Aspilaire’s lawyer could not be reached for comment on the company’s recent court filing.

Milana Murcia, who was the vice president of Regenat USA Holding Corp., a company that was purportedly in the business of recycling timber and wood, producing wood and purifying water, is scheduled to be arraigned in U.S. District Court in White Plains on Wednesday.

The indictment says Murcia, who was the vice president, and a co-conspirator, the president and chief executive, made false statements to recruit investors from May 2003 through January of this year. They recruited investors who placed $2 million in the company, according to the indictment.

None of the investors received any return on their investments, according to the indictment.

The indictment says Murcia was charged with mail fraud and conspiracy to commit mail fraud.

In March 2008, she had a phone conversation with an investor in White Plains and falsely said the company was about to sign contracts in Maine, according to the indictment.

Murcia and Philippe Murcia were arrested on the charges in January. Philippe Murcia has since died, said Herb Hadad, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s office.

Milana Murcia’s lawyer, Theodore Green, could not be reached for comment this morning.

The company is asking U.S. District Court Judge William C. Conner to deny a motion by retiree Daisy Early to have the Wyeth claims thrown out of court.

Early, who worked for the company as a packaging and biological operator for 29 years, is one of seven current and former black employees of Wyeth’s Pearl River operations who sued the company for alleged racial discrimination.

The company countered her lawsuit by alleging that she made it clear at the time of her retirement that she was retiring “voluntarily” and “without coercion.” But the company noted that she now claims she retired because Wyeth forced her out of the job by discriminating against her.

The company has asked the court to order Early to return certain retirement benefits she received.

Early, 57, and her lawyer, Steven Morelli, asked the court last month to dismiss the company’s claims.

But in papers filed last week, Wyeth’s lawyers said it has produced enough evidence to show that Early “may well have fraudulently induced Wyeth into pay her severance benefits.”

The company said Early worked through September 2005. But the company said it did not officially terminate her employment until Oct. 7, 2005 because she wanted to remain on the payroll through her 55th birthday on Oct. 4 so that she would not have a lapse in medical coverage.

Morelli could not be reached for comment.

Barr said it filed an Abbreviated New Drug Application with the Food and Drug Administration on March 10, the first date the agency could accept such an application for the kidney drug.

On Monday, Amgen, along with patent partners Brigham and Women’s Hospital Inc. and NPS Pharmaceuticals Inc., filed suit against Barr and Israeli drug-maker Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. for planning to sell generic Sensipar before the expiration of patent protection.

Sensipar recorded $377 million in U.S. sales during the 12 months ending May, Barr said.

Teva, the world’s largest generic-drug maker, is buying Montvale, N.J.-based Barr for $9 billion, the companies said jointly earlier this month.

Shares of Barr were down fractionally in noontime trading to $65.81 a share.

The lawyer, Steven Morelli, is trying to convince U.S. District Court Judge Charles L. Brieant to let the lawsuit filed by Mellard Jennings go to trial.

Wyeth’s lawyers filed papers in February and again this week urging Brieant, who works out of White Plains, to dismiss the lawsuit.

Jennings, 52, sued the company and fellow scientist Charles Guinosso in January 2007, alleging that Guinosso called him “boy,” and taunted him by making fun of Aunt Jemima and acting out a routine from “Amos ‘N Andy,” a defunct radio and television show that characterized blacks in an offensive way.

Jennings, a resident of Highland Falls, is black, while Guinosso is white. Both work at the company’s Pearl River campus.

In the company’s latest filing, Wyeth’s lawyers — who also represent Guinosso — argue that Jennings “raises baseless arguments and asserts irrelevant or unfounded facts in a desperate attempt to stave off” dismissal of his lawsuit.

Wyeth says Jennings has not met the legal standard for showing that he faced a hostile work environment because he has not shown Guinosso’s actions and comments were “either severe or pervasive.” The company says it has presented examples of other court cases involving allegations of harassment that were dismissed even though the allegations were more severe than the ones Jennings has made.

Jennings has also not shown the Guinosso’s conduct interfered with his ability to do his job, the company argues. Wyeth took action against Guinosso for his behavior and never retaliated against Jennings for bringing it to management’s attention, the company argues, disputing claims Jennings has made.

Jennings is one of seven black current and former employees of Wyeth’s Pearl River operations who sued the company for alleged race discrimination.

The company has so far succeeded in defeating two of the lawsuits. A jury ruled in the company’s favor in one suit and a judge dismissed another, leaving five suits, including the one filed by Jennings.