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Friday, March 29
The Indiana Daily Student

Judge dismisses DaimlerChrysler claim

FARMINGTON HILLS, Mich. -- A federal judge has dismissed claims by one of six plaintiffs in a lawsuit accusing DaimlerChrysler financing arm of discriminating against black car-buyers in the Chicago area.\nDaimlerChrysler Services North America LLC in Farmington Hills, which does business as Chrysler Financial and Mercedes-Benz Credit, had asked the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois to dismiss all of the charges.\nBut U.S. District Judge Mark Filip ruled recently that the case, which seeks class-action status, could proceed with five of the six plaintiffs, the Detroit Free Press reported Wednesday.\n"We're very encouraged to win five out of six," said Chris O'Hara, an attorney for the plaintiffs.\nDaimlerChrysler spokesman James Ryan said, "We're certainly pleased one plaintiff has been dismissed."\nFormer Chicago-area dealer Gerald Gorman and some of his minority customers filed separate lawsuits against DaimlerChrysler in February 2003.\nThe suits alleged that Chicago-area DaimlerChrysler executives would not give loans or fair interest rates to customers at Gorman's dealerships because they were located in neighborhoods with many minorities and that the executives explained their reasons with racist language.\nIn depositions, DaimlerChrysler Services employees testified that the company's longtime former Chicago zone manager regularly used racist language in the office and asked the race of a loan applicant at least once.\nDaimlerChrysler has said it does not tolerate racism or discrimination.

sh: McDonald's boosts profit outlook for first quarter\nOAK BROOK, Ill. -- McDonald's Corp., the nation's biggest fast-food restaurant chain, said Wednesday that it expects to report a first-quarter profit above Wall Street estimates.\nThe company's shares rose $1, or 3.2 percent, to $31.90 in premarket trade following the news.\nThe company expects to post profit of 56 cents per share, up 40 percent from a year ago. Excluding a tax benefit and expenses from stock-based compensation, McDonald's said earnings will be 46 cents per share. On that basis, the results surpass the average analyst estimate for profit of 42 cents per share from a Thomson Financial survey.\nMcDonald's said global same-store sales, which include only restaurants that have been open at least a year, rose 6.8 percent in March and 4.6 percent for the January-March period. U.S. same-stores sales rose 6.8 percent in March and 5.2 percent for the quarter.\nEurope sales rose 6.6 percent for the month and 2.9 percent for the quarter. In other regions, Japan, Australia and Taiwan all posted strong sales results, the Oak Brook-based company said.\nTotal sales increased 8 percent for the quarter compared with a year ago. Analysts are looking for sales to grow about 6 percent to $4.68 billion for the quarter.\nExcluding exchange rate effects, sales would have risen a more modest 6 percent, McDonald's said.\nSo far this year, McDonald's same-store sales are up 4.6 percent from the same period of 2004.

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