The Michigan Daily-Tuesday, July 29, 1980-Page 9 PRUDENTIAL GETS AXE FOR NON-COMPLIANCE Gov't cancels piece of the rock From APand UPI WASHINGTON-The Labor Department ordered the cancellation yesterday of more than $180 million in government business with Prudential Insurance Co. of America, saying the company was impeding a federal review of possible job discrimination prac- tices. Prudential, the nation's largest insurance com- pany, is the biggest federal contractor to be prohibited from government business under an executive order that bars contractors from em- ploymeht discrimination. THE COMPANY, HEADQUARTERED in Newark, N.J., denied it had done anything wrcmg and said it would go to court this week to block the government from cutting off its business. Prudential, with total annual premiums of $8.5 billion and 67,000 employees nationwide, is one of the largest insurers of federal civilian and military per- sonnel. Among its services, the company provides life insurance for 3.5 million people in the military and health insurance for some 200,000 government employees, processes Medicaid claims and provides Medicare in three states. Assistant Labor Secretary Donald Elisburg said the government would not terminate any Prudential policies until substitute insurance coverage is found for affected employees. ELISBURG SAID THE contract ban also prohibits Prudential from providing insurance coverage for employees at another private firm if they are not in- volved in federal contract work. The department's move against Prudential does not involve any formal charges or suspicion of discrimination. Rathere, the department said its ac- tion resulted from the company's refusal to provide information about its employment practices except under conditions the department considered unac- ceptable. Without the information, the department said, federal investigators cannot determine if the company is complying with federal requirements against job discrimination. At the heart of the dispute, according to Elisburg, is a government demand that Prudential turn over all computer tapes containing detailed information on employee and applicant history and payroll records. PRUDENTIAL EXECUTIVE VICE president Robert Winters said the company believes the gover- nment's demand for computer tape "exceeds its authority to obtain information under the executive order" against workplace discrimination. "Furthermore, the release of confidential em- ployee records would constitute an invasion of privacy of its 67,000 employees," said Winters. He said the company offered to provide a printout of the tape, but the department refused it because in that form, the information would be too costly to analyze, might contain errors and lack certain critical data. He said Prudential also refused to provide infor- mation prior to 1976 and wanted the right to see how the government was analyzing the other material, a demand he said was like having Prudential "looking over our shoulder." Elisburg said the company would be barred from federal contract work until it furnishes the requested materials. Winters said the company planned to ask a federal judge in Newark to block the government's order, from going into effect until the dispute is resolved in the courts. Shah's fruneral to draw few heads o state ('on t i nue d from Page 1) Sunday night. The official U.S. state- ment on the ousted monarch's death was devoid of any mention of the longtime alliance between Washington and the shah's regime. The 60-year-old Pahlavi, who ruled Iran for four decades, died Sunday morning in a military hospital outside Cairo after a six-year battle against cancer, 18 months after he fled into exile as the anti-shah revolution in his homeland neared victory. THE 10-MAN TEAM of doctors who treated Pahlavi issued a statement saying he died of a "shock to the cir- culatory system" brought on by com- plications from cancer. Doctors said Sunday an abscess on his pancreas had hemorrhaged and put him into shock, and the accumulting blood hampered his breathaing. The abscess was a complication of anti-can- cer drug treatment that lowered his resistance to infection, and possibly a side effect of surgery four months ago to remove his cancerous spleen. Egyptian President Anwar Sadat, whose peace with Israel has caused him to be ostracized by most of the Arb world, will lead the state funeral procession, which will be televised in Egypt. Nixon and former King Con- stantine XII, the Greek monarch deposed in 1973, are expected to be the only major foreign dignitaries present. NIXON PUBLICLY complimented the Egyptian president for giving refuge to the shah, who came to Egypt from Panama in March to die a slow death in a military hospital overlooking the Nile. "I think that President Sadat, in providing haven for the shah in his last r days at a time when the United States turned its back on one of its friends, is an inspiration to us all," Nixon said. PRIME RIB. A RARE PRICE. Generous cut of tender juicy Prime Rib roasted to perfection. Crisp, garden fresh salad Your choice of steaming hot baked potato, French fries or rice. Fresh bread and butter At a time when most things are going up, we're doing some- thing rare -bringing the price of Prime Rib way down. This standard cut is served every day, except Friday and Saturday, during our regular dinner hours. And The American Express Card is always welcome. EflhTAIN 3se South Maple Ann Arbor, 665-1133 Valid through September 11, 1980. The American Express"Card. Don't leave home without it.s