Declarations

Jeweler’s Luck

“Let it snow, baby! Let it snow!”

—Alan Perry, owner of Perry’s Emporium in Wilmington, North Carolina, who promised refunds for everything bought at his jewelry store between Nov. 26 and Dec. 11 if more than three inches of snow fell in Asheville on Christmas Day. The city got more than six inches. Perry told the News Observer the payout would be around $400,000 but that he is happy because he paid for an insurance policy to cover the refunds. He’s now thinking of a promotion for Valentine’s Day, based on how much snow Asheville gets on Feb. 14.

Gay Miner

“Mr. Hall is gay and, given his gender preference, has been harassed by both management and fellow miners. Due to management’s participation and provocation, most of the pervasive ongoing harassment has been caused or encouraged.”

—Language from a suit filed in West Virginia against a Massey Energy Co. subsidiary by a gay coal miner alleging that co-workers in several mines have repeatedly harassed him because of his sexual orientation. Sam Hall maintains that he was subjected to verbal abuse and lewd gestures by supervisors and other miners, even after he complained to management. Massey’s general counsel said such conduct is “despicable” if true and the company would investigate.

Toxic Mix

“Defendants knew the loans offloaded onto Allstate were a toxic mix of loans given to borrowers that could not afford the properties, and thus were highly likely to default.”

—Allstate Corp. in its complaint in federal court against Bank of America Corp., its Countrywide lending unit and 17 other defendants for allegedly misrepresenting the risks on more than $700 million of mortgage securities it bought from Countrywide. Allstate alleged it suffered “significant losses” after Countrywide misled it into believing the securities were safe, and the quality of home loans backing them was high.