Official: Nissan donates cash, offers employee pricing and delayed payments to Southern storm victims

Filed under: Car Buying, Budget, Nissan

Nissan

Nissan Americas is offering employee pricing and delayed finance payments to victims of the recent tornadoes and floods across the southeastern U.S. The latest gesture comes after the company donated $115,000 to the Red Cross to help with the relief efforts.

Qualified buyers, meaning those from the southeast who were left without a mode of transportation after the storms, will be offered Nissans at a price normally reserved for company workers and their immediate families. To be eligible for the program, you have to live in Tennessee, Kentucky, Georgia, Arkansas, Mississippi or Alabama and be able to provide proof of damage to your primary vehicle. Check out Nissan’s full press release after the jump.

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Nissan donates cash, offers employee pricing and delayed payments to Southern storm victims originally appeared on Autoblog on Sun, 22 May 2011 15:33:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Report: Mazda to pay $770k to parents of overworked employee who committed suicide

Filed under: Sedan, Etc., Japan, Mazda

Mazda wing logoThe parents of a Mazda worker who killed himself in 2007 have reached a second settlement with the company worth $770,000. The latest settlement brings the parents’ total to just over $1.3 million from Mazda.

According to The Daily Mail, the auto company was found liable in the worker’s death because he killed himself after being chronically overworked. According to the parents’ suit, the employee was ridiculed publicly by his managers for, among other accusations taking “needless” overtime.

Mazda paid the young man’s parents a separate condolence settlement in 2009. Work-related suicide is becoming a real problem in Japan, where the culture favors a workaholic mentality. In addition, many chronic overworkers suffer stress-related heart attacks and strokes.

These sorts of deaths have become common enough that the Japanese have coined a term, “karoshi,” which means “exhaustion death” to describe the phenomenon. Courts have ruled that the employer can be held liable in karoshi cases, as has apparently happened with Mazda.

[Source: The Daily Mail]

Report: Mazda to pay $770k to parents of overworked employee who committed suicide originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 02 Mar 2011 17:41:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Former Ford employee pleads guilty to stealing $50M in trade secrets

Filed under: Government/Legal, Ford

FordAccording to the Department of Justice, 49 year-old Mike Yu has pleaded guilty to two counts of theft of trade secrets. Yu worked as a product engineer for Ford for 10 years before accepting a job with another company, but when he left the Blue Oval, he took more than his family photos with him when he walked out the door. The engineer copied over 4,000 Ford documents onto an external hard drive before letting the company know of his new employer. Those documents included proprietary information on everything from engine and transmission mounting designs to electrical systems and full body shells. Yu began working for Beijing Automotive Company in 2008.

Yu returned to the United States in November of that same year, and was arrested upon his arrival. The Federal Bureau of Investigation found a Beijing Automotive Company laptop among Yu’s possessions at that time with 41 Ford design specification documents on its hard drive. Yu had apparently accessed those documents while working for the company.

Under his plea agreement, Yu faces up to six and a half years in prison and a $150,000 fine in addition to an agreed loss amount of between $50 million and $100 million. The former engineer will be deported after his prison time is up. Follow the jump to read the official government statement.

[Source: The Department of Justice]

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Former Ford employee pleads guilty to stealing $50M in trade secrets originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 24 Nov 2010 13:32:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Ex-Top Gear employee cashing in on Stig-gate, selling autographed helmet

Filed under: Auctions, Etc., UK, Celebrities

The StigThe Stig drama continues from the land of Top Gear. Former employee Sophia Vaizey was a production coordinator on the popular television show for 18 months. When she left, she was presented with a helmet worn by the Stig from 2002 to 2005, signed by Richard Hammond, members of the production crew and The Stig, himself.

Now that the frenzy surrounding Top Gear‘s former wheelman has reached a fever pitch, Mrs. Vaizey is looking to cash in on her parting gift. Her family points out to her, perhaps quite wisely, that the helmet will likely be worth far less in 10 years than it is right now. Thus, she is bringing the iconic white brain bucket to market – Stig’s helmet is heading to Gorringes Auctioneers on October 20th.

We wouldn’t be surprised if Jeremy Clarkson had some choice words for Sophia Vaizey. He recently laid into the Stig for following the money and Mrs. Vaizey appears to be going the same route. The helmet may have been a gift, but it’s her gift and she has every right to make some money off of it. However, if that helmet were placed on our shelf, it would stay there…

…Unless the offer was really high.

[Source: Telegraph.co.uk]

Ex-Top Gear employee cashing in on Stig-gate, selling autographed helmet originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 10 Sep 2010 19:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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