ST. LOUIS - FedEx Freight East will pay $500,000 to settle a lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission over allegations the company discriminated against black dockworkers in St. Louis, the EEOC said Monday. FedEx Freight East is a subsidiary of Memphis, Tenn.-based FedEx Corp. FedEx Freight said it is not admitting discrimination against black employees, and noted that the alleged events occurred before FedEx bought American Freightways in 2001. The EEOC sued in 2003 on behalf of 20 blacks who said they were denied promotions.

CHICAGO - United Airlines said Monday that it has applied to fly five new routes from Chicago and Los Angeles to cities in Mexico under a new bilateral agreement between the two countries. The service will begin this winter if it gets government approval, United said. The Chicago routes would include service on United's discount carrier Ted to Cancun 11 times a week and daily service to Puerto Vallarta. The airline also wants to fly three daily Ted routes between Los Angeles and Cabo San Lucas, Puerto Vallarta and Cancun.

CHICAGO - John Moranski, 43, a computer engineer who works in Pontiac, Mich., prayed before entering a federal courtroom in Chicago. It went to the heart of the issue his lawyer argued Monday before the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Moranski sued General Motors Corp. last year, alleging religious discrimination. The company denied his request to form a company-sponsored Christian group similar to nine employee affinity groups for veterans, women, gay men and lesbians, disabled people and racial or ethnic minorities. GM has said it denied Moranski's request because it prohibits any group that advocates a particular religious or political position.

NEW YORK - Cendant Corp., which built itself into a $20 billion conglomerate to please investors, said Monday that it will disband into four companies. The reason for the split: unhappy investors. But shares of Cendant, which owns Century 21 real estate, Ramada hotels, Avis rental cars and Orbitz online travel service, fell $1.39, or 6.9percent, to $18.70 in afternoon trading on the New York Stock Exchange. One company will take over hospitality businesses, such as Ramada, Howard Johnson and Days Inns hotels; another will take real estate, including the Century 21 and Coldwell Banker brands; the third, travel, including Orbitz, Galileo and Cheap Tickets brands; and the fourth, the Avis and Budget car-rental businesses.

TOKYO - A Japanese government panel on mad cow disease delayed a decision Monday on whether to recommend easing a two-year-old ban on U.S. beef imports, despite preparing a draft report concluding the risk from the beef is very low. The panel had been widely expected to send the report to the Food Safety Commission, setting in motion a process that could lead to reopening Japan to imports by the year's end.

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