The Fortune 500 comes out just once a year, but the companies on it make headlines every day. Here then are today’s highlights of news and happenings coming from the biggest names in business.
By Shelley DuBois, reporter
JUSTICES DIVIDED OVER WAL-MART SEX DISCRIMINATION CASE–not necessarily over whether 1.5 million women should get the backpay from Wal-Mart (WMT) that they’re requesting, but whether a lawsuit of that size can even happen. The plaintiffs argue that Wal-Mart’s companywide policy gives the women enough in common to file a lawsuit together. While several Supreme Court Justices say there could be a legal basis for that argument, others are skeptical. [New York Times]
MOLDY-SMELLING TYLENOL CAPLETS spurred yet another round of recalls on certain products made at Johnson & Johnson’s Neil Consumer Healthcare plant in Fort Washington. Johnson & Johnson is recalling Tylenol 8-Hour Extended Release caplets made there because customers complained that the product smelled moldy. J&J (JNJ) has advised customers to stop using the caplets, but says the odor shouldn’t affect the efficacy of the medicine. [Wall Street Journal]
A LEG UP IN THE CLOUD Amazon is moving ahead of its tech giant competitors in the race to provide consumers with the best online storage system. Amazon (AMZN) announced a new Cloud Drive service on Tuesday that offers five gigabytes of free cloud storage. This could give Amazon an advantage in music sales, since the storage offering could lure customers away from iTunes. [Wall Street Journal]
DUPONT MAKES A SECOND BID for Danish food ingredients company Danisco. DuPont (DD) is making a $6 billion offer, and is giving Danisco shareholders four weeks to approve of the deal. DuPont will have to win over 90% of Danisco shareholders for the deal to go through. [New York Times]
STATES SKEPTICAL OF AT&T DEAL Several state Attorney Generals are speaking out about concerns over AT&T’s (T) plan to purchase T-Mobile. While AT&T argues that the merger will expand cell phone service for customers, government officials are concerned that the deal will jack up cell phone costs. [Wall Street Journal]
THE TRADEMARK CONFLICT continues as Microsoft (MSFT) lashes out at Apple for trying to trademark the term “App Store.” It’s a descriptive term, Microsoft says, equivalent to “grocery store.” Yet Apple says that competitors have found alternative names–take Android’s Marketplace, or RIM’s App World–and insists that the App Store isn’t a concept, but an Apple (AAPL) trademark.
