Cruise America Faces Higher Damages Over Stock Plan Lawsuit

The US Labor Department notched another victory in its lawsuit against the directors of recreational vehicle rental company Cruise America, when a federal judge resolved multiple post-trial damages questions in the department’s favor.

The directors liable for violating federal benefits law in the course of a $105 million stock plan transaction failed to convince Judge Roslyn O. Silver that their damages should be limited because the employee stock ownership plan hadn’t actually been harmed by the disputed transaction. Silver said the ESOP suffered losses of $72 million—the difference between what the plan paid for shares in the company and the ...