Settlement

Maryland Attorney General Doug Gansler has reached a settlement with California-based CleanWell Company and OhSo Clean Inc, the makers of a hand sanitizer that claimed it was "proven to kill 99.99 percent of germs that can make you sick. " Gansler's investigation revealed no actual proof that those statements were true. CleanWell must pay $100,000 in penalties and costs, and will no longer be allowed to assert that its hand sanitizer can prevent disease or infection. “Companies that make unsubstantiated claims about their products deceive consumers into spending their hard-earned money on something that may not live up to its billing,” Gansler said in a statement.

Just over 2,800 Marylanders have received some aid through the national mortgage-servicing settlement this year, with nearly 2,000 others in process, according to the settlement's monitor . The assistance, valued at $224 million, ranges from principal reduction to refinancing underwater borrowers. The average rate reduction for refinancing? More than 2 percent. Five mortgage servicers -- Wells Fargo, Bank of America , Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase and Ally Financial (the former GMAC)

Officials across the nation are trumpeting a $69 million settlement in a nationwide price-fixing case against Hachette Book Group, HarperCollins and Simon & Schuster. But don't go rushing out to put a downpayment on a beach house. Maryland Attorney General Douglas F. Gansler -- in announcing that state residents will receive up to $1.6 million -- noted that the reimbursement per book will range from 25 cents to $1.32. That amount depends on "whether the books were on the New York Times bestseller lists (Fiction, Non-Fiction and Advice)

Nearly 3,000 Maryland homeowners received almost $225 million in relief as of the end of June from the national settlement with five mortgage servicers, state officials announced Wednesday. The money was distributed to homeowners in the form of mortgage modifications and refinancing, principal reductions, deficiency waivers and short sale assistance, according to a statement from the office of Maryland Attorney General Douglas F. Gansler. Gansler's office cited financial data from the first progress report on the settlement, prepared by the Office of Mortgage Settlement Oversight.

Hundreds of families living in some of Baltimore's most impoverished neighborhoods will get to move to better conditions under a proposed settlement that could finally resolve a fair housing case dating back to 1995. Attorneys representing current and former public housing residents filed the settlement, which still has to be approved by a judge, in U.S. District Court late Friday. They hope the agreement with the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development will finally end more than 70 years of housing segregation that they say the government helped exacerbate.

Deliberate misbehavior by Anne Arundel County employees could leave them on the hook for the county's legal costs under a new bill introduced Monday night. The legislation requires the county attorney to try to recoup from employees whose conduct ultimately put Anne Arundel's government on the losing end of a lawsuit. A second bill introduced Monday night gives the County Council final approval on any out-of-court settlements over $100,000. The bills are reactions to two pending federal lawsuits against the county filed over the conduct of County Executive John R. Leopold, the bills' sponsors said.

Anne Arundel County employees whose deliberate behavior leads to legal settlements or judgments against the county could be ordered to cut a check for the damages under a bill to be introduced Monday before the County Council. One proposal would allow the county attorney to pursue the recovery of damages from an employee in such cases. Another bill to be introduced Monday would allow the council to approve large legal settlements. The bills — sparked by two pending civil lawsuits against County Executive John R. Leopold and the county — have the sponsorship of Jamie Benoit, a Crownsville Democrat, and Jerry Walker, a Gambrills Republican.

Progressive Insurance has reached a settlement with the family of Kaitlynn Fisher, days after her brother's online rant against the company unleashed a torrent of backlash on social media. Fisher's family will receive a payment in the "tens of thousands," according to its attorney, Allen W. Cohen of Annapolis. "It's exactly how much we asked for," he said. The settlement prevents Cohen from filing a complaint with the Maryland Insurance Commissioner, he said, and the payment is separate from the judgment rendered by a jury in Baltimore Circuit Court last week awarding the Fishers $760,000.

One of the largest business expenses for Santoni's Supermarket in Highlandtown is interchange fees — what the grocer pays a bank to process customer's credit card transactions. Even so, Santoni's has no plans to charge shoppers more for paying with plastic. "That would be retailer suicide," says Rob Santoni Jr., the grocer's chief financial officer. Merchants haven't been allowed to add a surcharge to credit card purchases, but that would change under a proposed settlement announced last month to resolve a seven-year legal battle over interchange fees.

The Baltimore County school board Tuesday night voted to approve numerous retirements and resignations, including those of two employees who signed contracts with the former superintendent that a union official and others have questioned. But the board did not discuss in public the fact that those two employees had negotiated a settlement and will be paid more than $150,000 total. The Sun reported last month that Baltimore County school Superintendent Joe A. Hairston had given two top aides employment contracts that promised them severance of almost a half-million dollars if they were fired when the new superintendent chose his own leadership team.