National Education Settles With Ex-Chief

National Education Corp. has agreed to pay H. David Bright, its former chairman and chief executive ousted in a management shake-up last year, about $5 million in cash and future pension benefits to settle a claim that he was wrongfully terminated last year.

The company said Monday that the award, which it would not specify, will all but erase a $5.5-million payment National Education will receive from an insurance carrier as reimbursement for settlements of several unrelated shareholder suits against it.

National Education, the nation’s largest provider of vocational education services, announced with its insurance carrier the settlements to end speculation about the payment to Bright, which has weakened the company’s stock price.

In light trading Monday on the New York Stock Exchange, National Education’s stock closed down 12.5 cents at $5.50 a share. It traded as high as $28 in 1988.

Some stock analysts had said that resolving the Bright case could cost the ailing company as much as $9 million.

National Education would not discuss the actual value of the severance package, calling that a private matter. But Jeffrey Brill, the company’s general counsel, said the settlement--part of which will be paid as an increase in Bright’s pension payments when he reaches age 60--will almost nullify the effect of the unrelated insurance payment.

The immediate net impact on the company, Brill said, will be a “small positive contribution” to National Education’s as-yet-unreleased second-quarter results because of the insurance payment. The company had already charged the lawsuit settlement against its income.

Brill said the company is happy to have resolved the uncertainty over the amount of the Bright settlement. “Now we can get back to business,” he said.

Bright, who resides in Newport Beach, could not be reached.

National Education operates a nationwide chain of vocational education programs, offering both classroom and in-home study.

The company also has textbook and consulting subsidiaries.