Boeing Closer to Answer on 787s, but Not to Getting Them Back in Air

Issei Kato/Reuters

Safety inspectors looked over a 787 on Friday in Japan. The plane made an emergency landing after receiving a smoke alarm.

With 787 Dreamliners grounded around the world, Boeing is scrambling to devise a technical fix that would allow the planes to fly again soon, even as investigators in the United States and Japan are trying to figure out what caused the plane’s lithium-ion batteries to overheat.

Ray LaHood, the transportation secretary, made it clear on Friday that a rapid outcome was unlikely, saying that 787s would not be allowed to fly until the authorities were “1,000 percent sure” they were safe.

“Those planes aren’t flying now until we have a chance to examine the batteries,” Mr. LaHood told reporters. “That seems to be where the problem is.”

The Federal Aviation Administration on Wednesday took the rare step of grounding Boeing’s technologically advanced 787s after a plane in Japan made an emergency landing when one of its two lithium-ion batteries set off a smoke alarm in the cockpit. Last week at Boston’s Logan Airport, a battery ignited in a parked 787.

The last time the government grounded an entire fleet of airplanes was in 1979, after the crash of a McDonnell Douglas DC-10.

The grounding comes as the United States is going through a record stretch of safe commercial jet flying: It has been nearly four years since a fatal airline crash, with nearly three billion passengers flying in that period. The last airliner crash, near Buffalo, came after a quiet period of two and a half years, which suggests a declining crash rate.

Investigators in Japan said Friday that a possible explanation for the problems with the 787’s batteries was that they were overcharged — a hazard that has long been a concern for lithium-ion batteries. But how that could have happened to a plane that Boeing says has multiple systems to prevent such an event is still unclear.

Given the uncertainty, it will be hard for federal regulators to approve any corrective measures proposed by Boeing. To lift the grounding order, Boeing must demonstrate that any fix it puts in place would prevent similar episodes from happening.

The government’s approach, while prudent, worries industry officials who fear it does not provide a rapid exit for Boeing.

The F.A.A. typically sets a course of corrective action for airlines when it issues a safety directive. But in the case of the 787, the government’s order, called an emergency airworthiness directive, required that Boeing demonstrate that the batteries were safe but did not specify how.

While the government and the plane maker are cooperating, there are few precedents for the situation.

“Everyone wants the airplane back in the air quickly and safely,” said Mark V. Rosenker, a former chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board. “But I don’t believe there will be a corner cut to accomplish that. It will happen when all are confident they have a good solution that will contain a fire or a leak.”

Boeing engineers, Mr. Rosenker said, are working around the clock. “I bet they have cots and food for the engineers who are working on this,” he said. “They have produced a reliable and safe aircraft and as advanced as it is, they don’t want to put airplanes in the air with the problems we have seen.”

The government approved Boeing’s use of lithium-ion batteries to power some of the plane’s systems in 2007, but special conditions were imposed on the plane maker to ensure the batteries would not overheat or ignite. Government inspectors also approved Boeing’s testing plans for the batteries and were present when they were performed.

Even so, after the episode in Boston, the federal agency said it would review the 787’s design and manufacturing with a focus on the electrical systems and batteries. The agency also said it would review the certification process.

The 787 has more electrical systems than previous generations of airplanes. These systems operate hydraulic pumps, de-ice the wings, pressurize the cabin and handle other tasks. The plane also has electric brakes instead of hydraulic ones. To run these systems, the 787 has six generators with a capacity equivalent to the power needed by 400 homes.

Nicola Clark and Christopher Drew contributed reporting.

This article has been revised to reflect the following correction:

Correction: January 19, 2013

An earlier version of this article misstated the response of regulators after small cracks were found in the wings of the Airbus A380, and the year those cracks were found. Regulators required inspections, followed by fixes; they did not order the plane grounded. And the discovery was made in 2012, not two years ago.

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Myanmar to End Assault Against Kachin Rebels

BANGKOK — After weeks of intense fighting near the border with China, the Myanmar government on Friday announced what appeared to be a unilateral cease-fire in its offensive against ethnic Kachin rebels. The government also said it would pursue peace talks.

The announcement, which was made on state television during the main evening newscast, came only hours after Parliament approved a resolution calling for an end to a year and a half of fighting and as Myanmar’s actions have come under increased international scrutiny.

The Myanmar military has intensified its campaign against the Kachin rebels since the end of December, and witnesses described frequent shelling in and around Laiza, the rebel base. The rebels had been losing territory almost daily.

Many questions remain about the cease-fire, including whether the military will comply with the order. President Thein Sein — who is not the commander in chief under the country’s new constitution — had suggested several times that the army was not supposed to go on the offensive, but only to act in defense, but it has been unclear how strongly he was pushing the army to stop fighting.

Friday’s announcement was much more detailed, including a precise time (by 6 a.m. Saturday) when the cease-fire was supposed to go into effect.

It was unclear how the Kachin rebels would react. One leading Kachin voice, the Rev. Samson Hkalam, the general secretary of the Kachin Baptist Convention, said by telephone that he was skeptical of the announcement.

“According to our experience, the declarations by the government are one thing,” he said. “What the army does is another.”

He also said the cease-fire was very limited in its scope. “There are many areas that Myanmar troops occupy,” he said. “The cease-fire applies to only one area.”

According to the announcement, the cease-fire applies to the area around the town of Lajayang, the site of the major fighting. It is not known what that means for the rest of Kachin State, where the rebels control numerous pockets of territory.

The statement said the military had “concluded its conditional mission” in the Lajayang offensive and had secured the “safety of troops.”

The government’s statement on Friday said there had been more than a thousand “battles” between Kachin rebels and government troops since Dec. 10. It also said the military had suffered many casualties, but did not give a number. A military officer, however, said 218 government troops have been killed and 764 injured since Nov. 15, according to an official tally. The officer requested anonymity because he was not authorized to release the information, which came from a military report.

The cease-fire announcement came as the commander in chief of Myanmar’s armed forces, Vice Senior-General Min Aung Hlaing, is on an official visit to Singapore and Malaysia.

The fighting has raised concerns that Myanmar, formerly Burma, is backsliding in its efforts at national reconciliation. Myanmar has faced a chorus of international concern, including from its ally China, which issued a sharp rebuke on Thursday after an artillery shell landed on its territory.

Inside Myanmar, there has also been increased tension among other ethnic groups, a point underlined by two documents issued recently by minority groups.

One of those statements was issued by the leaders of the Wa, a heavily armed ethnic group whose territory is also near the Chinese border. The Wa have thousands of men under arms but have a cease-fire agreement with the government.

The Wa statement, which was co-signed by two other groups, warned of a return to civil war in Myanmar. “The country will return backward” if the fighting does not stop, the statement said.

The debates leading up to the cease-fire have been notable for the relative absence of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, the opposition leader and Nobel laureate, who earlier in the week was quoted as saying that she would not take a major role in seeking a halt to the fighting because it was not her purview in Parliament.

Instead, the speaker of the lower house of Parliament, Thura Shwe Mann, commanded the spotlight. He rushed the motion for an immediate halt to hostilities in Kachin State to a vote — without prior discussion — because he said the issue was “vital for the country,” according to Burmese news reports.

Wai Moe contributed reporting from Yangon, Myanmar.

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Poll: Samsung, Apple seen pulling ahead in smartphone race

HELSINKI (Reuters) - Samsung and Apple pulled ahead in the global smartphone race last quarter, according to forecasts by analysts in a Reuters poll, while Nokia and others are expected to have fallen further behind.

Overall shipments of handsets are expected to have risen in the fourth quarter, with most of that growth dominated by Samsung. Analysts forecast the South Korean company shipped 61 million smart devices, up 71 percent from a year earlier.

Samsung forecast earlier this month that it expected to earn a quarterly profit of $8.3 billion on strong sales of its Galaxy handsets as well as solid demand for flat screens used in mobile devices. Samsung's full results are due by Jan 25.

While some are wary that Samsung's momentum may slow in coming quarters owing to market saturation, it is still expected to outpace Apple as sales of the new iPhone 5 appear slightly weaker than originally forecast.

Apple is forecast to have shipped 46 million iPhones in the quarter, up 25 percent from a year earlier, according to the poll.

Shares in Apple dipped below $500 earlier this week for the first time in almost a year after reports it was slashing orders for screens and other components as intensifying competition eroded demand for the new iPhone.

The poll showed analysts expect Apple's full-year shipments to grow to 167 million this year from 134 million in 2012, while Samsung's shipments are expected to grow to 283 million smartphones in 2013 compared to 210 million in 2012.

NOKIA, RIM AIM TO CATCH UP

Nokia, once the world's biggest handset maker, is expected to have lost more market share. It is now pinning its recovery hopes on Lumia smartphones, which use Microsoft's Windows Phone software.

Analysts forecast Nokia's fourth-quarter shipments of mobile phones fell 15 percent to 80 million units while those of smartphones, including Lumias, fell 65 percent to 7 million units.

Nokia last week said it sold around 4.4 million Lumia handsets in the fourth quarter. Full results are due on Jan 24, and analysts are anxious to hear whether Nokia is confident that Lumia sales will continue to grow in coming quarters.

BlackBerry-maker RIM, another handset maker struggling to claw back market share, is expected to report a 30 percent fall in fourth-quarter shipments to 7 million units, the poll showed.

RIM is to launch new BlackBerry 10 smartphones later this month. The poll showed, however, that analysts expect its full-year sales to fall to around 30 million in 2013 from 33 million in 2012.

(Reporting by Ritsuko Ando; Editing by Sophie Walker)

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John Galliano invited to return to fashion

John Galliano has been invited to return to fashion for the first time since an anti-Semitic rant at a Paris cafe was captured on video.

Oscar de la Renta invited Galliano to spend time in his studio over the next three weeks, according to a statement released Friday by de la Renta's company.

Galliano was dismissed as creative director of Christian Dior and left his own label two years ago after his rant went viral. A French court also convicted him on two other complaints of anti-Semitic behavior.

In a statement, Galliano said he is an alcoholic and has been in recovery for the past two years.

"Several years prior to my sobriety, I descended into the madness of the disease. I said and did things which hurt others, especially members of the Jewish community. I have expressed my sorrow privately and publicly for the pain which I have caused and I continue to do so," he said. "I remain committed to making amends to those I have hurt."

De la Renta said he has known Galliano for years and is "a great admirer of his talent."

"He has worked long and hard on his recovery and I'm happy to give him the opportunity to reimmerse himself in the world of fashion and reacclimate in an environment where he has been so creative," de la Renta said in a statement.

The statement did not elaborate on what role if any Galliano might play in de la Renta's business. Galliano said he was grateful and humbled by the invitation.

The saga of Galliano's undoing began with run-ins at a Paris watering hole where fellow diners contended the designer showered them with a litany of racist and anti-Semitic insults. Video posted online showed an inebriated Galliano slurring "I love Hitler," among other incendiary remarks.

Although Galliano's remarks would not be punishable in the U.S., France has strict laws aimed at curbing anti-Semitic and racist language. The laws were enacted in the decades following the Holocaust.

Galliano's extravagant, theatrical collections drew inspiration from far-flung cultures like Kenya's Massai people and the geishas of Japan and his proud rooster-like post-fashion show strut had long been a thing of legend.

Galliano's own namesake label, now designed by Bill Gaytten, was presenting its menswear collection in Paris on Friday.

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Well: Your Twitter Tips for Going Vegan

In this week’s Well column, “How to Go Vegan,”, we asked you to send in your favorite tips and tricks for adopting a solely plant-based diet on Twitter. We received a range of responses, from quirky ingredient combinations that replicate a nonvegan dish to simple mantras to get you in a vegan frame of mind. Here are some of our favorites. To see the entire list of submissions, visit the hashtag, #vegantips.

Let’s start with some simple recipes that may satisfy your vegan craving:

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Add some of your favorite ingredients:

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Don’t forget to love your legumes:

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And what about some tips to keep you on the vegan path?

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And don’t forget to serve a healthy side of humor with that vegan dish:

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The Lede: Live Blog: Inside the Fed's 2007 Deliberations

On Friday the Federal Reserve released the transcripts of its discussions in 2007, the year the housing market, the financial markets, and the broader economy began to unravel. Reporters from The Times are sharing their findings on what the transcripts reveal in the blog entries and tweets below.

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Philadelphia Vandalism Seen by Some as Union Intimidation

Mark Makela for The New York Times

Construction resumed last week on the meeting house for the Chestnut Hill Friends, a Quaker community in a northern section of Philadelphia. The site was struck by arsonists in December.

PHILADELPHIA — It was several weeks ago when vandals struck the building site, setting fire to a crane, cutting deep gashes in steel columns and loosening the bolts that anchored them. The episode resulted in about $500,000 in damage and was, the authorities believe, apparently an attempt to halt the construction of a Quaker meeting house.

The $5.8 million building was being constructed for the Chestnut Hill Friends, a Quaker community in a northern section of Philadelphia. Cuts in the steel columns that make up the building’s frame were made with an acetylene torch, indicating that the attack was carried out by someone with both the equipment and the expertise to operate it, the police say, suggesting that it may have been the work of trade unionists who were disgruntled after being refused work on the site.

“It’s not being done by 12-year-old vandals,” said Lt. George McClay of the Philadelphia Police northwest detectives division, which is leading an investigation into the episode. Fire officials are treating the attack on the crane as arson.

Asked whether the damage might have been an attempt at intimidation by union members, Lieutenant McClay said: “It does point in that direction. Can I prove it? Absolutely not.”

Pat Gillespie, business manager of the Philadelphia Building and Construction Trades Council, which represents about 60,000 construction workers in 42 local unions, rejected suggestions that members were responsible for vandalizing the meeting house. He said that the relatively small project would not generate enough union work to explain any such attack, and that union members would not want to jeopardize chances of future work by alienating potential employers.

The episode may have been a result of a payment dispute, he said. “Maybe that person had business dealings that didn’t go too well.”

Four union members visited the site during the week before the overnight attack on Dec. 20-21, asking questions about who was doing specific construction tasks, said Robert N. Reeves Jr., the president of E. Allen Reeves Inc., the contractor. The company operates an “open shop” that does not employ union members but may work with unionized subcontractors, Mr. Reeves said.

Each of the union members left the site after being told by employees that they could not give out information about the construction, Mr. Reeves said. The fourth told the site manager on Dec. 17 that “I’ll do what I have to do,” said the manager, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

The vandalism has led the eastern Pennsylvania chapter of the Associated Builders and Contractors, a trade association, to offer a $50,000 reward to anyone whose information leads to the arrest and conviction of those responsible.

The episode is the latest in Philadelphia to prompt allegations that trade unions engage in violence and intimidation in an effort to secure work for their members.

In mid-December, an employee of Post Brothers Apartments, a local developer, was attacked with a crowbar by a member of the Ironworkers Union, according to Michael Pestronk, chief executive of the company. Post Brothers is in a dispute with local unions over its refusal to hire all-union labor to work on an apartment building in central Philadelphia

Mr. Gillespie said he was not aware that any union member had used a crowbar to attack Post Brothers employees, and he accused Mr. Pestronk of “exaggerating” the confrontations that have occurred at the site. “There have been some pushing and shoving instances that have happened on that site that I’m aware of,” Mr. Gillespie said. “If anyone gets assaulted with a crowbar, that’s a serious charge, a felony offense.”

Post Brothers initially wanted to hire 40 percent union labor on the project, converting a factory into 163 loft apartments, but is using all nonunion workers after unions withdrew their members in protest at the company’s position, Mr. Pestronk said.

“They told me, ‘If you don’t make this project 100 percent union, we are going to do everything in our power to stop this job,'” Mr. Pestronk said in an interview. Picketing of the Goldtex site began in December 2011 and employees have been harassed and attacked in episodes that have been captured on video and posted on a company Web site, he said.

Michael Resnick, Philadelphia’s director of public safety, said that if the authorities were presented with evidence that union protesters were committing crimes, the offenders would be arrested and charged, as they have been in “two or three cases” during the Post Brothers protest.

Mr. Resnick rejected accusations by Mr. Pestronk and others in the construction industry that city authorities are lax in cases involving union harassment and intimidation. He said unions had a constitutionally protected right to protest against working practices, and that developers like Post Brothers must recognize that.

“People have a right to express their views,” Mr. Resnick said in an interview.

Meg Mitchell, clerk of Chestnut Hill Friends, said the contractor for the meeting house project was selected on the basis of price, quality and its track record of building houses of worship. She said the community, which like all Quakers advocates nonviolence, was aware that the winning contractor was not unionized.

The new meeting house is expected to open on schedule in early summer now that the damage has been repaired, Ms. Mitchell wrote in an e-mail.

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Amazon holiday results to show sales tax impact

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Acting as a tax collector may have hurt Amazon.com, Inc's holiday sales analysts and industry executives said, but they expect to know more when the internet retailer reports its fourth-quarter results on January 29.

Best Buy Co., an archrival of Amazon in consumer electronics, saw holiday online sales increase in three states where Amazon started collecting sales tax ahead of the period.

"There was a little softness in states where Amazon is now collecting sales tax," said R.J. Hottovy, an equity analyst at Morningstar. "That isn't surprising to me. It levels the playing field for brick-and-mortar retailers."

Critics of Amazon argued it had an unfair advantage because most retailers have had to collect state sales tax on online sales for years because they have stores and other physical operations in these locations.

But many states, hungry for extra tax revenue in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis, introduced new laws requiring that Internet-only retailers also collect sales tax. Brick-and-mortar retailers hope the requirement will reduce Amazon's price advantage and help them recoup lost sales.

CHANNELADVISOR DATA

Amazon, the world's biggest Internet retailer, began collecting sales tax of 7.25 percent to 9.75 percent in California on Sept 15, about two weeks before the start of the fourth-quarter. Third-party sellers on Amazon.com saw a drop in sales during the quarter, compared to other states, according to an analysis by e-commerce firm ChannelAdvisor.

It also started collecting sales tax in Pennsylvania in September and in Texas in July.

Amazon's fourth-quarter results should provide clues on whether consumers changed their shopping habits when faced with higher taxes on their purchases from the company's website.

ChannelAdvisor, which helps merchants sell more online, analyzed its clients' sales on Amazon.com in California, and compared them to other states before and after the sales tax kicked in.

Before Amazon began collecting the tax in California, ChannelAdvisor client sales were 5 percent to 10 percent above other states. The week before the September 15 start of the tax, sales spiked as high as 70 percent compared to other states.

"The surge before the tax went into effect was much larger than I thought it would be," said Scot Wingo, chief executive of ChannelAdvisor. "Californians definitely bought a lot in the three or four days before the tax went into effect."

After Amazon began collecting tax, its California sales leveled with other states. Then, in early November, they slipped as much as 10 percent below other states, ChannelAdvisor data showed.

During one of the busiest holiday periods, in late November and early December, sales dipped further in California vs other states. Toward the end of the holiday period, client sales in California recovered, the data showed.

"There was a sales impact of about 10 percent at the worst point of the dip," Wingo said. EBay, another Amazon rival, is an investor in ChannelAdvisor. Wingo also owned Amazon shares, but sold them in the fourth quarter for personal tax-related reasons.

Amazon's tax collection in California had the most impact on fourth-quarter sales of more expensive items priced at $200 to $250, Wingo said.

PRICES, PROFIT

Amazon probably lowered prices by 8 percent to 9 percent on items most affected by this, although it is tricky to separate such reductions from the usual holiday season promotions that were also happening, Wingo said.

The extra price competition may dent Amazon's profitability in the fourth quarter, Morningstar's Hottovy said.

Amazon is expected to make 52 cents a share in the fourth quarter, on revenue of $22.3 billion, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. In late October, the company forecast operating results ranging from a profit of $310 million to a loss of $490 million.

Hottovy expects $22.4 billion in revenue and an operating loss of $210 million, or a $135 million loss after excluding stock-based compensation and other operating expenses.

BEST BUY

In California, Texas and Pennsylvania, Best Buy said it saw a 4 percent to 6 percent increase in online sales during the holiday versus the rest of its chain.

The retailer also saw an increase of 6 percent to 9 percent in online orders that are picked up in its stores in those three states compared with the rest of its chain.

Overall, Best Buy reported better-than-expected holiday sales last week, sending its shares up more than 10 percent.

"This makes Amazon equal to everyone else. They no longer have that sales tax advantage," said Anne Zybowski, vice president of retail insights at Kantar Retail. "If this had happened to Amazon when they were just a bookseller years ago, they may not be as big as they are now.

Despite the tax changes, Amazon's consumer electronics prices were still at least 5 percent below Best Buy's during the holiday season, Zybowski said. But Best Buy may have benefited from even a small change in this area.

"Particularly in consumer electronics, any narrowing of Amazon's price advantage at the margin is important because Best Buy brings service and other shopper benefits to the category," she said.

Best Buy will take away people's old TVs when they buy a new one and the company's Geek Squad service will install devices in shoppers' homes, services Amazon does not provide, she noted.

An Amazon spokesman declined to comment when asked if the company saw an impact on fourth-quarter sales from the collection of sales taxes in the three states.

In the past, Amazon executives have said there was little or no impact from such changes in other regions.

Several analysts have argued that shoppers use Amazon for its vast product selection and convenient, fast shipping and returns, and not just its low prices.

"While not great for Amazon, it's just one of many consumer benefits its service offers," said Ken Sena, an analyst at Evercore Partners. "And while there may be early effects from this change, I still see usage trends remaining in Amazon's favor."

(Editing by Leslie Gevirtz)

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Lance Armstrong left it 'all on table' with Oprah

All the speculation is about to end. In a matter of hours, viewers can judge for themselves whether Lance Armstrong told the truth this time.

Armstrong's confession to Oprah Winfrey about using performance-enhancing drugs to win the Tour de France a record seven times in a row will be televised at 9 p.m. Thursday, the first segment of a two-part special on the Oprah Winfrey Network. Since word of his confession during Monday's taping in Austin, Texas, was first reported by The Associated Press, there has been no shortage of opinions or advice on what Armstrong should say.

The International Olympic Committee didn't wait to listen.

The IOC on Wednesday stripped Armstrong of his 2000 bronze medal, sending him a letter asking him to return it, according to officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because the decision had not been announced.

For others who will tune in Thursday, it's not just what Armstrong said that matters. How he said it, whether angry, tearful or matter-of-fact, will be judged as well.

"I left it all on the table with her and when it airs the people can decide," Armstrong said of his interview in a text sent to the AP on Wednesday. He dismissed a story earlier in the day that described him as "not contrite" when he acknowledged doping while dominating the cycling world.

Livestrong, the cancer charity Armstrong founded in 1997 and was forced to walk away from last year, said in a statement it expected him to be "completely truthful and forthcoming." A day earlier, World Anti-Doping Agency director general David Howman said nothing short of a confession under oath — "not talking to a talk-show host" — could prompt a reconsideration of Armstrong's lifetime ban from sanctioned events. And Frankie Andreu, a former teammate that Armstrong turned on, said the disgraced cyclist had an obligation to tell all he knew and help clean up the sport.

"I have no idea what the future holds other than me holding my kids," Armstrong said in the text.

Armstrong has held conversations with officials from the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency, including a reportedly contentious face-to-face meeting with USADA chief executive Travis Tygart near the Denver airport. It was USADA's 1,000-page report last year, including testimony from nearly a dozen former teammates, that portrayed Armstrong as the leader of a sophisticated doping ring that propelled the U.S. Postal Service team to title after title at the Tour de France. In addition to the lifetime ban, Armstrong was stripped of all seven wins, lost nearly all of his endorsements and was forced to cut ties with Livestrong.

According to a person with knowledge of the situation, Armstrong has information that might lead to his ban being reduced to eight years. That would make him eligible to compete in elite triathlons, many of which are sanctioned under world anti-doping rules, in 2020, when Armstrong will be 49. He was a professional athlete in the three-discipline sport as a teenager, and returned to competition after retiring from cycling in 2011.

That person also said the bar for Armstrong's redemption is higher now than when the case was open, a time during which he refused to speak to investigators. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because he was discussing a confidential matter.

Armstrong, who always prized loyalty on his racing teams, now faces some very tough choices himself: whether to cooperate and name those who may have aided, abetted or helped cover up the long-time use of PEDs.

Armstrong left his hometown of Austin, where the interview was taped at a downtown hotel, and is in Hawaii. He is named as a defendant in at least two pending lawsuits, and possibly a third. The Justice Department faces a Thursday deadline on whether to join a whistle-blower lawsuit filed by former teammate Floyd Landis, who was stripped of the 2006 Tour de France title for doping.

That suit alleges Armstrong defrauded the U.S. government by repeatedly denying he used performance-enhancing drugs. Armstrong could be required to return substantial sponsorship fees and pay a hefty fine. The AP reported earlier that Justice Department officials were likely to join the lawsuit.

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Jim Litke reported from Chicago, Jim Vertuno from Austin.

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Ask Well: Help for the Deskbound

One of the problems with office work is that many of us are using chairs that don’t fit our bodies very well or give adequate support to the back, said Jack Dennerlein, a professor at Northeastern’s Bouvé College of Health Sciences in Boston who specializes in ergonomics and safety. If you are experiencing back pain, you may be able to adjust your chair to increase its lumbar support. A good office chair will have an adjustable seat pan that you can slide back and forth as well as adjustable back and height features. First, sit in the chair so the lumbar region of your back, your lower back, is resting on the back support. At the same time, your feet should be resting comfortably on the ground and the back of your knees should be about three-finger widths from the edge of the chair, said Dr. Dennerlein.

Some high-end chair brands have adjustable seat pans, including the Steelcase Leap chair, which retails for between $800 and $900 and offers an adjustable seat and plenty of lumbar support.

The Steelcase Criterion chair sells anywhere from $350 to $850 online, depending on the model, and boasts seven different adjustments “to offer support through the full range of dynamic seating postures.”

The HumanScale Freedom chair is the winner of several design awards and also has an adjustable seat pan as well as “weight-sensitive recline, synchronously adjustable armrests, and dynamically positioned headrest.” ($400 to $1,400)

The Herman Miller Aeron chair is also popular because it comes in small, medium and large sizes and claims a PostureFit design that “supports the way your pelvis tilts naturally forward, so that your spine stays aligned and you avoid back pain.” ($680 to $850)

If all that sounds really wonderful and really too expensive, there may be a simpler solution to ease your back pain at work. Invest $15 to $30 in a lumbar chair pillow to make sure your back is getting the support it needs even when you are not sitting in a $900 chair.

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