Business news in brief

By The Associated Press

Judge orders railway to pay tribe for trespassing with oil trains

SEATTLE | A federal judge has ruled that BNSF Railway must pay nearly $400 million to a Native American tribe in Washington state. U.S. District Judge Robert Lasnik ruled Monday that the company intentionally trespassed when it repeatedly ran 100-car trains carrying crude oil across the Swinomish Tribe’s reservation.

Lasnik initially ruled last year that the railway deliberately violated the terms of a 1991 easement with the tribe north of Seattle that allows trains to carry no more than 25 cars per day.

The judge held a trial earlier this month to determine how much in profits BNSF made through trespassing and how much it should be required to disgorge.

Judge rules federal agency can’t enforce abortion rule in Louisiana, Mississippi

NEW YORK | A federal judge on Monday granted the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, as well as employers in two Southern states, temporary relief from complying with a federal rule that would have required them to provide workers with time off and other accommodations for abortions.

Judge David Joseph granted the preliminary injunction in two consolidated lawsuits, one brought by the attorneys general of Louisiana and Mississippi, and the other by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, Catholic University and two Catholic dioceses.

The lawsuits challenge the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s regulations stating that 2022 Pregnant Workers Fairness Act covers abortion.

—From AP reports