Gap admits problems in clothing factories

Apparel marketer Gap Inc. conceded Wednesday the global manufacturing network it used to make its clothes offered low-paying work under often hazardous conditions.

In an unusual report, the clothier said it found a range of workplace violations in thousands of inspections in 2003 of the more than 3,000 factories worldwide that produce goods for Gap. The violations included improper storage of hazardous or combustible materials, machinery that lacked “some operational safety devices” and inadequate first aid and fire safety, according to the report.

Officials at San Francisco-based Gap previously have defended their relationships with plants in about 50 countries that supply its Gap, Old Navy and Banana Republic chains, saying they abided by the company’s “ethical sourcing” policy which pledged fair treatment of workers.

But in the new report, Gap said, “Few factories, if any, are in full compliance all of the time.”

Lawsuit

Enron to pay $85M to former employees

Former Enron employees who lost millions in retirement money in the company’s collapse would get $85 million in a partial settlement of their lawsuit, while former directors agreed to pay $1.5 million to resolve a related suit by the Labor Department, attorneys said Wednesday.

In their class-action suit, the employees alleged that the now-bankrupt energy company and its officers failed to execute their duties in administering Enron’s pension plan. The partial settlement calls for the company to hand over an $85 million insurance policy. It resolves the claims against Enron’s human resource staff and company directors, but not those against Kenneth Lay, who had been Enron’s chairman, and Jeffrey Skilling, the former chief executive.

The Labor Department’s civil suit, filed last June, also named Lay and Skilling. The government sought to recover hundreds of millions of dollars in lost employees’ retirement money.

Banking

UMB leader resigns

UMB Financial Corp. announced Wednesday that R. Crosby Kemper III had resigned as chairman and CEO effective immediately. J. Mariner Kemper, chairman of UMB Bank, Colorado, has been elected as a director and will replace Crosby Kemper as chairman and CEO of UMB Financial Corp., effective immediately.

The company also announced that Peter deSilva, current president and chief operating officer of UMB Financial Corp., will assume additional responsibilities and will become chairman and CEO of the lead bank, UMB Bank.

In a written release, the company did not give a reason for Crosby Kemper’s resignation. The Kansas City Mo.-based bank operates a branch in Lawrence.

Retail

Wal-Mart to pay fines for construction sites

Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the nation’s largest retailer, will pay a $3.1 million fine to settle a Clean Water Act violation stemming from excessive storm water runoff from its construction sites, federal officials said Wednesday.

Wal-Mart also agreed in the settlement with the Environmental Protection Agency and Justice Department to improve runoff controls at the more than 200 sites each year where the company builds stores.

Wal-Mart this week submitted plans to city officials to expand its Lawrence store.