Wal-Mart loses class-action suit

A California jury on Thursday awarded $172 million to thousands of Wal-Mart employees who claimed they were illegally denied lunch breaks.

The world's largest retailer was ordered to pay $57 million in general damages and $115 million in punitive damages to about 116,000 current and former California employees for violating a state law that requires employers to give 30-minute breaks to employees who work at least six hours.

The class-action lawsuit in Alameda County Superior Court was one of about 40 nationwide alleging workplace violations by Wal-Mart, and the first to go to trial.

Adopted children abused, judge rules

A couple who adopted 11 children with health and behavioral problems abused some of them by making them sleep in wooden cages without pillows or mattresses, a judge ruled Thursday.

The children will remain in foster care until Juvenile Judge Timothy Cardwell determines who should get custody.

Their adoptive parents, Michael and Sharen Gravelle, have not been charged with a crime and denied abusing the youngsters. They said they built the cages in 2003 to protect the children from each other and themselves.

Deputy's claim on stun gun rejected

An Arizona jury rejected claims Thursday that Taser International Inc. failed to adequately warn users of its stun guns' potential dangers.

The lawsuit, brought by an injured sheriff's deputy, was the first to go to trial among some three dozen personal-injury, wrongful-death or excessive-use-of-force lawsuits that have been filed against Scottsdale-based Taser.

Retired Maricopa County Sheriff's Deputy Samuel Powers sued Taser after he was injured in a 2002 training exercise. At the time, the sheriff's office required all officers who carried Tasers to experience a shock to help them understand the weapon's effect, a rule that has since been dropped.

Owner convicted in fatal dog attack

A dog owner was convicted of involuntary manslaughter Thursday for allowing her pit bulls to run loose and kill an 82-year-old woman.

Deanna Large, 37, was found guilty in the death of Dorothy Sullivan, who was attacked March 8 by three pit bulls. The jury recommended Large serve three years in prison.

Parents sentenced for neglect in diet

The parents of a 6-month-old baby who died after being fed strictly raw foods were placed on 15 years' probation Thursday for child neglect involving their four other children, who were put on the same diet.

Joseph and Lamoy Andressohn could have gotten 20 years in prison.

Last month, the Andressohns were acquitted of manslaughter in the 2003 death of 6-month-old Woyah, who was fed only wheat grass, coconut water and almond milk. Defense attorneys and expert witnesses contended that Woyah's death may have been caused by a rare chromosomal disorder. But the jury convicted the couple of child neglect regarding the other youngsters.

Compiled from The Associated Press