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Some good news for the Enron employees who had lost millions of dollars in retirement money while management lied to them about the company's deteriorating fortunes as the company slowly went bankrupt. Last week tentative settlements were reached in two suits that will get the employees some of their money back. The larger settlement calls for certain Enron employees to hand over an $85 million dollar insurance policy that covered them against liability. This settlement resolves claims against the Enron HR staff, but not against Enron itself and Ken Lay and Jeffrey Skilling, two former Enron head honchos.

In addition, some other former directors of the company have agreed to pay $1.5 million to resolve a civil case filed against Enron by the Labor Dept. The government's suit had alleged that Enron top executives had mismanaged the retirement plans. An interesting sidenote to this settlement. It further provided that former directors, including the wife of ex-Senator Phil Gramm would be barred for five years from acting as trustees of any federally regulated pension plan.

In news closer to home, ran across an interesting blurb in the Chicago Tribune about a recently filed lawsuit. A James Degorski is suing a Cook County Corrections officer who hit Degorski while Degorski was in custody at the Cook County jail. Degorski is alleging that he suffered a fractured cheekbone and eye socket in the attack. Yeah, so? Well Degorski is one of the men currently charged with killing seven people at the Brown's Chicken and Pasta restuarant in Palatine in 1993. Although the article didn't specifically say, it appears that Degorski may be representing himself. Even lawyers have standards...