Potentially capping more than a decade of litigation in Washington, the government has agreed to pay $680 million to a class of American Indian farmers and ranchers who alleged the Agriculture Department’s loan program was discriminatory. President Barack Obama praised the settlement and urged Congress to act on two proposed settlements in separate suits that would resolve claims among black farmers and a class of American Indians who are challenging the management of Indian trust accounts and resources.

Nearly $1 billion has been paid over the past decade to resolve claims against the New York Police Department, the nation’s largest. The total spending outstrips that of other U.S.

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission announced Thursday that Les Schwab Tire Centers, based in Seattle, has agreed to pay $2 million to resolve claims that it failed to hire qualified women for tire-changing jobs at its stores in Washington, Oregon, California, Idaho, Montana, Nevada and Utah.

The nation’s top employment cops have Wal-Mart Stores digging deeply into its pockets again, this time to settle allegations of sex discrimination. The U.S

A nonprofit health advocacy group wants Bayer to swallow yet another bitter legal pill over its marketing techniques — this one involving its Men’s One A Day multivitamin. The Center for Science in the Public Interest is suing the German drug giant for allegedly claiming falsely that selenium in the multivitamin might reduce the risk of prostate cancer.