Free Republic

WASHINGTON, Dec. 14 - Retirees who receive health benefits from their former employers saw premiums shoot up an average of 25 percent this year, a new study says. The study, issued Tuesday by the Kaiser Family Foundation and Hewitt Associates, showed a continued erosion of retiree health benefits among large employers. Companies are requiring retirees to pay a larger share of premiums and other health costs. While continuing to provide coverage for people who have already retired, about 8 percent of large private employers took action in the last year to end all subsidized health benefits for future retirees, and...

Fortune 500 Companies See Money in Gay Families Wednesday, May 26, 2004 By Catherine Donaldson-Evans NEW YORK — Now that gay marriage has taken center stage as a hot-button issue and has been legalized in Massachusetts, Fortune 500 companies are eyeing its business potential — and seeing dollar signs. Recognizing same-sex couples and families as an emerging market, large corporations have begun targeting the demographic in their ads. Companies including International Business Machines (IBM), Volvo and JP Morgan (JPM) have featured gay couples or parents, mostly in print or online ads. And Subaru has been marketing to the gay population...

(CNSNews.com) - A Denver man is suing AT&T Broadband after he was fired for refusing to sign off on "tolerance" portions of the company's employee handbook that he felt violated his religious beliefs. The handbook contained a provision that "each person at AT&T Broadband is charged with the responsibility to fully recognize, respect and value the differences among all of us," including "sexual orientation." Albert Buonanno said his religious beliefs prevented him from condoning or approving of homosexuality. Attorneys for the Rutherford Institute are presenting testimony in federal court in Washington on behalf of Buonanno, who worked as a quota...

New York — Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the discounter that has become the dominant force in American retailing, is now the largest company in the U.S. and the world, capturing the top spot on the annual Fortune 500 list. Wal-Mart, No. 2 on the list a year ago, traded places with oil giant Exxon Mobil Corp. in the rankings compiled on the basis of companies' annual revenue figures. The retailer's ascendancy was expected after both companies issued their 2001 results earlier this year. The list of America's 500 biggest companies, published in the issue of Fortune magazine that reaches newsstands Monday,...