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                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, April 16, 1993                   TAG: 9304160185
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: B4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

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IN BUSINESS

GM denied new trial in teen-death case

ATLANTA - General Motors Corp. lost its bid Thursday for a new trial in a case in which a Georgia couple was awarded $105.2 million for the death of their son in a GMC pickup.

Judge A.L. Thompson, who presided over the negligence case earlier this year, rejected GM's contention that the trial was riddled with procedural errors and upheld the damage award. Thompson also denied the automaker's attempt to introduce testimony from new witnesses.

The parents of 17-year-old Shannon Moseley of Snellville, Ga., said their son died because his 1985 GMC pickup exploded after a crash. The explosion, the lawsuit said, was caused by GM's placement of the fuel tank on the side of the truck's frame.

GM maintains that the teen-ager died from the impact of the crash, and that the design was not defective. The company had said two eyewitnesses, who were not available at the time of the trial, would have testified that Moseley was dead before the truck burst into flames.

The judge did not give any reasons for denying the new trial motions.

GM said in a statement Thursday it was "disappointed" by the ruling and probably would appeal. - Associated Press

\ CSX cutting up to 600 staffers at Sea-Land

RICHMOND - CSX Corp. said Thursday it plans to lay off up to 600 employees as part of a restructuring plan at its Sea-Land Service Inc. container-shipping subsidiary.

Sea-Land will issue severance notices next week to about 330 white-collar employees in the United States and abroad, said Sea-Land spokesman Jesse Mohorovic.

Employees to be cut are in finance, marketing and other operations, he said. Some administrative and clerical workers also will be cut. Sea-Land will eliminate another 250 positions through job consolidations over the next year, he said.

Sea-Land is a wholly owned subsidiary of Richmond-based CSX. It operates more than 80 container ships worldwide. Revenue totaled $3.2 billion in 1992, 37 percent of CSX's total revenue, Mohorovic said. - Associated Press

Keywords:
FATALITY

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