9A STRICTLY BUSINESS/The Charlotte Post Thursday, January 16,1997 Morgan Stanley faces lawsuit THE ASSOCIATED PRESS NEW YORK - Morgan Stanley and Co. is facing a $30 million lawsuit from two black employees who say that white workers traded a “vile, racist E-mail” over the Wall Street firm's in-house comput er message system. The Daily News S£ud Monday. Yolanda Owens and Edward Hutton, both analysts at the company, also charge that the firm's hiring and promotion practices discriminate against minorities, who they claim make up only 1 percent of company employees. Morgan Stanley denies any wrongdoing, company lawyer Stephen Feingold told the newspaper. The white employ ees who distributed the racist message in the company's computers were suspended vidthout pay, even though all have returned to work, and some have been promoted. The author of the racist mes sage was not an employee of the firm, Feingold said. The message, titled “News from the Orient,” was sent Oct. 4, 1995. The note consisted of a list of jokes focusing on an “easy homework assignment” for “an 18-year-old ninth grader who is becoming increasingly disillusioned with the public school system,” the report said. The student, portrayed as an African American, completes the assignment by using com mon words improperly. A white analyst used a black employee’s password to enter and distribute the jokes to other whites, the suit alleges., But a black employee received a message by mistake and notified other black employees at the firm,'the report said. Plaintiffs seek an average of $63,000 from Texaco suit THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Owens and Hutton filed the suit in Manhattan Federal Court on Dec. 27. Ad puts Denny’s in better light Continued from page 6A include minorities in its com mercials. Reiman said the provision was included “to make it clear African Americans are desired customers at Denn3f’s.” In the early 1990s, Denny’s was the target of widespread complaints from black and Hispanic customers who said they were not served as promptly as whites or were discriminated against in other ways. Among those who sued was a group of black Secret Service agents who said they were denied service at a Denn/s in Annapolis, Md., in April 1993. The chain’s parent, Flagstar Cos. Inc. of Spartanburg, S.C., agreed to the settlement of racial discrimination charges. It also agreed to offer more business opportunities and training for minorities. The first graduate of a new program to enable minorities to own Denny’s franchises took control of his own store last summer. The campaign developed by the agency Lowe & Partners/SMS is a marked change from the Denny’s c£un- pEugn from a different agency earlier in the decade featuring the elderly Corlick sisters. The running gag was that one sister habitually confused the chain's name. More recently, Denny’s had been running ads that pitched its prices or specific menu items but focused on products not customers. In one of the new ads, the dry-witted Denny’s emissary finds a pair of well-dressed investors who have spent nearly $15 for breakfast at a posh restaurant. He takes them to Denny’s where they could have gotten more for about $3 each. “Question: Do you actually make money on your invest ments,” the Denny’s man asks the businessmen but gets no reply. In another commercial, the Denny’s man shows two cable TV installers that Denny’s also caters to their schedules. In the third ad, he takes two clothing saleswomen to Denny’s where the food is always in fashion. Dermis isn’t saying what it plans to spend on the cam paign, although industry sources expect it could reach $30 million to $40 million. While those who sued Denny’s wiU be monitoring its compliance with the settle ment for several more years, Reiman said the chain has aggressively responded “by admitting essentially they messed up and taking steps to make the place better.” WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. - The 1,377 minority employees who settled their race discrimination lawsuit with Texaco would each get an average of $63,000 imder a distribution plan they’ve proposed in fed eral court. The employees sued Texaco in 1994, claiming the company reserved the best promotions and biggest raises for whites and subjected blacks to harassment. Texaco settled the case in November for $176 million after several executives were caught on tape behttling black employees and sug gesting the destruction of papers relevant to the lawsuit. Of the $176 miUion, $26 miUion wiU go to pay raises for current minority employees and $35 miUion wiU go to a task force on sensitiv ity and training. Attorneys for the workers, in papers filed FViday, proposed spUtting the remaining $115 miUion three ways, including nearly $29 miUion for their fees and expenses. More than $60 miUion would be divided based on seniority, and close to $3 miUion would be distributed to every black person who worked for the company between March 1991 and November 1996, with no one getting less than $2,000. The remaining $23 million would be divided based on expert testi mony on what each employee would have been paid if Texaco had not discriminated. Court approval of the civU settlement is expected by next month. Members of the class-action lawsuit have imtil Feb. 20 to opt out of the settlement. They then would get no money from the settlement but would be fi-ee to pursue their own lawsuits. King works part of publishing deal Taxpayer protection is a reality Continued from page 6A Continued from page 6A Interest charges For any IRS notice issued after Dec. 31, 1996, the IRS wUl give taxpayers who fail to pay their full tax bill a slight reprieve from interest charges. From the time the notice is issued, the taxpayer will have 21 calendar days - up from 10 calendar days - to pay off the bill without incurring interest charges, provided the tax UabUi- ty is under $100,000. In addi tion, IRS, authority to abate interest is expanded to apply to interest resulting from “unrea sonable” errors or delays caused by IRS employees performing “managerial” or “ministerial” duties. required that the government prove its position was substan tially justified before taxpayers would be precluded fix)m recov ering such fees. Be aware that for tax purposes, “attorney fees” also refers to the fees of any individuals authorized to prac tice before the IRS, such as CPAs and enrolled agents. If you win a case against the IRS, you may now recoup additionEd restitution. That’s because the new law increased from $100,000 to $1 miUion the “actu al, direct economic” damages recoverable by taxpayers victim ized by “reckless” IRS coUection action. eEisier for married individuals to switch their filing status as of July 31 of last year. They can now switch from filing sepEu^te- ly to filing jointly, even if they CEumot pay the joint habUity in fuU. significant hEU'dship because of IRS actions. Money Management is a week ly column on personal finance prepared and distributed by the N. C. Association of Certified Public Accountants. Warner Books also intends to reissue King’s published books worldwide. They wUl be releEised as a boxed set through the Book-of- the-Month Club under terms of the deal. The King Center has tried for years to enhance the future value of its assets, which include King's writings and personal papers. 'The publishing deal will provide the center with a much-needed new source of revenue.- Neither the King family nor Time Warner would reyeEd the finan cial value of the deal, but it is believed to be worth millions over the years. Mail procedures Spousal rules Litigation, associated costs The new bUl wUl give taxpay ers a better chance of recovering attorneys fees in the event of a tax controversy. That’s because the burden of proof is shifted to the government. It’s now Don’t know why your ex spouse is being questioned by the IRS? Under the new rules, if you've filed a joint retimn with your spouse and are now sepa rated or divorced, you can con tact the IRS to find out why the IRS is trying to collect taxes from your former spouse. The rule went into effect July 30, 1996. Also, Congress made it Another beneficial tax law change is the recognition of pri vate mailing services to meet the “timely-mailing-as-timely- fihng rule.” In the past, only the U.S. Postal Service was recog nized. New rules now recognize other private mail carriers, as long Eis they meet certain crite ria. The IRS win designate the private services that qualify for purposes of this rule. Taxpayer advocate TELxpayers who need help in resolving problems with the IRS can do so through the Taxpayer Advocate. The Taxpayer Advocate reports directly to the IRS Commissioner and has expanded authority to assist taxpayers who may be suffering King had economic philosophy Continued from page 6A Full employment Should the federal government help secure full employment? King’s economic agenda includ ed issues where he thought the government could help. There were three areEis he felt the gov ernment should address, poli tics, full employment and the guaranteed income. When it came to politics Dr. King was most concerned with educating blacks about what could be done through the politi cal process. He encouraged blacks to vote, run for public office and to use political power to pEiss anti-discrimination legis lation. He also thought it was government’s role to create full emplo3mient. King felt that new forms of work which enhance the social good would have to be devised for those for whom tradi- tionEd jobs were not avEulable. But the most radical pEirt of his economic agenda dealt with the guaranteed income. The guaranteed income Although he perfected the poli cy of nonviolent protest, Martin Luther King, Jr. was always considered to have radical ideEis that changed society. His eco nomic agenda was no different. Dr. King embraced a guaranteed income policy. He beheved that people should be made con sumers by one method or anoth er: give them a job or give them some money. He felt that a per son’s income should not be allowed to fall below a certain level. Obviously, this was radical thinking 25 years ago. But back then it was thought that a guar anteed mcome for aU Americans could have been accomplished for $20 bUhon, about what it cost to place a man on the moon and well below the $35 biUion price tag for the Vietnam War. Martin Luther King Jr. was a man of peace and a man of vision. Charles Ross is the host of the nationally syndicated radio pro gram, “Your Personal Finance” and author of Your CommonSense Guide to Personal Financial Planning. Business Briefs SCOPIE Continued from page 6A five-year growth plans for each of those markets. • Valerie Woodard has been named to the N.C. State Board of Barber Examiners by Gov. Jim Hunt. The board adopts Emd enforces SEUiitary regulations at barber schools and shops and certifies all appH- cants as registered barbers. The governor appoints all five members for three-year terms. WoodwEurd is the public member of the boEad Emd the deputy chief investigator for the Public Defender’s Office in Charlotte. She is a member of the NationEil Defender Investigator Association and the Onyx Optimist Club. Continued from page 6A Woodard located at 200 N. College St. SCORE is sponsored by the U.S. Small Business Administration. Its members are volunteers who- provide small business assistance in the form of one-on-one, team and workshop counseling. Score has 13,000 members nationwide. For moe information, call workshop chairman Dick O' Brien at 344-6576. Nominate Your Favorite Teacher/Professor/Administrator! Who Qualifies: An individual who has touched your life, made an impact on the direction your career has taken, or someone who has enhanced the destiny of your life. Think of someone who has gone above and beyond the obligation of the classroom time and assisted you academically or socially. Then, simply complete the form below, and return to: Cljarlotte P.O. Box 30144, Charlotte, NC 28230 Attention: Fran Farrer or Fax (704)342-2160 By January 31st 1997 Name of Nominee Street Address City State Zip Phone Day Evening School University Nominated by. Phone Day, .Evening- 4 €! ■ % i mmm