Business news in brief

Windstream faces Disabilities Act suit

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission filed a federal lawsuit Thursday against Windstream Communications, a Fortune 500 company based in Little Rock, alleging that the company violated the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 by forcing a diabetic employee to resign.

According to information from a news release and documents in the lawsuit filed in federal court in Little Rock, Stephanie Johnson was hired in May of 2013 as an associate network analyst. When she began working the late shift, she experienced extreme fluctuations in her blood sugar level because of interruptions in her sleep patterns, and she requested a transfer to another shift. The company denied her request, which the federal agency said was a "reasonable accommodation," and forced her to resign.

The agency said in the news release that it first tried to resolve the case through a pre-litigation process with the company. The agency is asking a judge to prohibit Windstream from discriminating against employees with disabilities and to award compensatory and punitive damages as well as back pay for Johnson.

The lawsuit was initially assigned to U.S. District Judge Susan Webber Wright but was later transferred to U.S. District Judge Billy Roy Wilson after Wright recused.

A spokesman for the company didn't immediately return a reporter's telephone calls Thursday afternoon.

-- Linda Satter

Walgreens blames glitch for Rx delays

CHICAGO -- The computer database used by drugstore chain Walgreens stopped working properly Tuesday morning, the company said.

Pharmacists have been filling prescriptions manually since the system failed, causing delays for customers at the 8,200 Walgreens drugstores across the U.S., a company spokesman said Thursday.

"We have been experiencing technical issues with our pharmacy systems," said Jim Cohn, a Walgreens spokesman. "Our pharmacies are still able to fill prescriptions and process most insurance claims, however some patients may experience longer wait times until certain functionalities are fully restored."

Cohn said the failure occurred after overnight maintenance and that the company, based in suburban Chicago, is "working diligently" to correct the issue.

"We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause," Cohn said.

Walgreens Boots Alliance, the largest drugstore chain in the U.S., processed more than 856 million prescriptions last year, Cohn said.

Walgreens had sales of more than $76 billion during fiscal 2014.

-- Chicago Tribune

Caterpillar: Will cut up to 10,000 jobs

Caterpillar Inc., the biggest manufacturer of construction and mining machinery, reduced its sales forecast for the second time in two months Thursday and said it will cut as many as 10,000 jobs over four years in response to a slowdown in the mining and energy industries.

The company lowered its 2015 revenue projection by $1 billion to $48 billion and said sales are expected to drop 5 percent next year. The job cuts are part of a plan that will save about $1.5 billion of operating costs annually, Peoria, Ill.-based Caterpillar said in a statement Thursday.

Caterpillar is heading for its first four-year decline in sales in its 90-year history. The retrenchments come four years after the company spent $7.5 billion on its biggest ever deal, buying Bucyrus International Inc. to expand into mining equipment. Since then, a slowdown in China has sent coal and metals prices into a slump, hurting mining customers. Caterpillar also sells equipment to the energy industry, which is suffering from lower oil prices.

Shares of Caterpillar fell $4.40, or 6.3 percent, to close Thursday at $65.80.

The job cuts represent as much as 9 percent of the company's 111,247 head count in the second quarter. They follow a 5.5 percent reduction in 2013, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Consolidation and closings of factories may affect more than 20 plants, the company said Thursday.

-- Bloomberg News

Bond dealers keep eye on beer-maker

Anheuser-Busch InBev NV will be in a position to issue a record amount of bonds if it buys SABMiller PLC, according to BlackRock Inc.

The beer-maker would probably raise about $60 billion of debt to finance the acquisition, Owen Murfin, a portfolio manager on BlackRock's global bond team, said at a briefing Thursday in London. That would surpass Verizon Communications Inc.'s $49 billion bond sale in 2013, which helped fund the buyout of Vodafone Group PLC's stake in a wireless venture.

"If it goes through, it could cause the largest-ever investment-grade deal," Murfin said. Anheuser-Busch InBev would probably have to offer "quite substantial new-issue premiums" in such a large offering, he said.

A sale would fan a surge in investment-grade corporate bond issuance, which has jumped 21 percent worldwide this year, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The increase, after 2014's record, has been fueled by companies locking in low borrowing costs and investors seeking higher yields amid near-zero interest rates.

-- Bloomberg News

30-year mortgage rate falls to 3.86%

WASHINGTON -- Average long-term U.S. mortgage rates declined this week after the Federal Reserve's decision to keep interest rates at record lows for now.

Mortgage giant Freddie Mac said Thursday that the average rate on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage fell to 3.86 percent from 3.91 percent a week earlier. The rate on 15-year fixed-rate mortgages eased to 3.08 percent from 3.11 percent.

Rates have stayed below 4 percent for nine-straight weeks.

To calculate average mortgage rates, Freddie Mac, the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp., surveys lenders across the country at the beginning of each week. The average doesn't include extra fees, known as points, which most borrowers must pay to get the lowest rates. One point equals 1 percent of the loan amount.

The average fee for a 30-year mortgage rose to 0.7 point from 0.6 point last week. The fee for a 15-year loan was unchanged at 0.6 point.

-- The Associated Press

Business on 09/25/2015

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