HEAVY INDUSTRY
From Times Staff and Wire Reports
Ex-Workers Win Suit Against Massey Ferguson: A jury in Des Moines, Iowa, awarded $45.8 million in damages to 230 former employees of Massey Ferguson Inc. who alleged that the company tried to get around its commitments for retirement benefits. The lawsuit alleged that Massey and its parent, Varity Corp., created Des Moines-based Massey Combines Corp. to strip retirees of insurance benefits and to get rid of about 475 employees without giving them severance benefits. Massey Combines failed in 1982, 22 months after it was established.
