Business Briefs: Jimmy Haslam testifies in lawsuit against Pilot

Jimmy Haslam testifies in lawsuit against Pilot

Cleveland Browns owner Jimmy Haslam was deposed Tuesday in a civil lawsuit against the Pilot Flying J truck-stop chain owned by his brother, Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam, and other family members.

The lawsuit was filed by companies that declined to participate in an $85 million settlement between Pilot and 5,500 trucking companies in connection with a scheme to cheat customers out of promised discounts and rebates. The company also paid a $92 million federal penalty in an agreement with prosecutors in which the company accepted responsibility for the criminal actions of its employees.

Ten former Pilot employees have pleaded guilty in the scheme, and the company’s former president and several others face trial next year in federal court. But Jimmy Haslam has denied any wrongdoing or previous knowledge about the scheme and had sought to block the deposition in the case.

“Mr. Haslam’s deposition is not warranted by the facts in these cases and plaintiffs’ pursuit of his deposition is nothing more than harassment,” attorney Steve Brody said in a statement. “Mr. Haslam is nevertheless eager to put this gamesmanship behind him and therefore voluntarily agreed to sit for deposition by the remaining civil plaintiffs.”

Hertz names Marinello as new company CEO

Struggling car rental company Hertz has named a new CEO.

Kathryn Marinello will take the wheel Jan. 3, succeeding John Tague, who is retiring, Hertz said Tuesday. Marinello, who also was named to the company’s board, joins Hertz after stints at banking, business service and tech companies. She has served as senior adviser of asset manager Ares Management LLC since March 2014.

Tague has been president and CEO since November 2014.

Carl Icahn, the billionaire activist investor and Hertz’s largest shareholder, said in a statement issued by the company that Marinello “is the right person to lead Hertz as we move forward.”

Feds slap curbs on Wells Fargo

Federal regulators have determined Wells Fargo has not done enough to patch the holes in the plan it would deploy if it fell into bankruptcy.

As a result, the Federal Reserve and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. on Tuesday slapped restrictions on the bank, barring it from setting up new international banking businesses or buying any nonbank subsidiaries until it fixes the issues.

It’s the latest blow to San Francisco- based Wells Fargo, which has been rocked by a scandal over its sales practices that triggered public outrage, brought federal and state investigations, and led to the resignation of its CEO.

The regulators’ action Tuesday concerned the bank’s so-called “living will” plan. Those are plans that outline how banks would reshape themselves in the event of failure. The government exercise is aimed at avoiding a repeat of the taxpayer bailouts of “too-big-to-fail” banks during the 2008 financial crisis.

Monsanto shareholders OK Bayer’s $57 billion takeover

Monsanto Co. shareholders on Tuesday overwhelmingly approved a $57 billion merger with Bayer AG, a deal that would combine two of the world’s biggest agricultural companies.

But the path toward securing regulatory approval may be rough. Critics say the combination would shrink competition in the agricultural market, drive prices higher for farmers and consumers, and escalate damage to the environment. Monsanto and Bayer officials say growers and ranchers stand to benefit, and the combined company will be better suited to address issues such as climate change.

Preliminary results showed 99 percent of all votes cast favored the merger announced in September, St. Louis-based Monsanto said. Shareholders will receive $128 per share in cash at the closing of the merger, which must still receive regulatory approval. Monsanto said the deal is expected to close by the end of 2017.