Americas News
Matson Settles Fuel Surcharge Suit for $10M
U.S. shipping company Matson Inc. [NYSE:MATX] (Matson) will pay $9.95 million to settle a lawsuit over improperly billing the government for fuel surcharges, Pacific Business News reports.
The lawsuit had claimed that Matson and fellow carrier Horizon Lines had cost the U.S. government $2 million a year in damages.
Mario Rizzo, a freight consultant who filed the suit on behalf of himself and the U.S. government, will receive $950,000 in expense and attorney fees, and the government will pay him an additional $2.656 million for his part in the case.
"This agreement is neither an admission of liability by Matson nor a concession by the United States or [Rizzo] that their claims are not well founded," the settlement says.
Horizon Lines says it plans to "vigorously defend against the allegations," industry news site JOC.com reports.
Matson and Horizon Lines had been accused of inflating shipping costs by applying a bunker fuel surcharge even when good were moved by train.
