Every Penny Counts

When we last left Dow Chemical, they had just been hit with a $1.2 billion price fixing fine. While the jury-decision against them and the fine is undoubtedly being appealed, they have already made a slight headway in getting it reduced. The judge in the case has reduced the fine by $139 million, the amount paid by the other defendants in the original class-action suit. (You may recall that the other defendants settled out of court, something that Dow certainly wishes it had likewise done.) So now Dow only owes $1.1 billion, instead of $1.2 billion. Considering that that $1.1 billion is nearly half of Dow's operating income for the year, every little bit counts.