AG fines delivery company for misclassifying drivers

Attorney General Martha Coakley's office has fined FedEx Ground Package System Inc. about $190,000 for intentionally misclassifying 13 drivers as independent contractors rather than as employees. By misclassifying the workers, FedEx deprived them of healthcare benefits, unemployment insurance, workers' compensation benefits, and sometimes overtime pay, according to Coakley's office, whose investigation is ongoing. FedEx, which has at least 400 drivers at terminals in Billerica, Northborough, Wilmington, West Bridgewater, and on Martha's Vineyard, must also provide restitution to the drivers. (Sacha Pfeiffer)

Big Sky Airlines, which flies to small and medium-size communities under the Delta Air Lines banner, is ending service to eight destinations on Boston routes after Jan. 7. Those cities are: Allentown, Pa.; Burlington, Vt.; Trenton; and Massena, Ogdensburg, Plattsburgh, Saranac Lake, and Watertown, N.Y. "Sustained unusually bad weather, disappointing revenue, and record high fuel prices have significantly disrupted their operations to the point that they are not sustainable," Delta said. (Nicole C. Wong)

Greyhound Lines Inc. has expanded its priority seating offer to 30 US cities after customers showed sufficient interest in paying $5 more per ticket to reserve a specific seat during the October test on the Boston-New York and Dallas-Houston routes. The company would not say how many passengers paid extra to board first during the trial phase. But assuring a passenger a seat on a bus for a particular departure time has become a competitive perk on the crowded, low-cost Boston-New York route, where Greyhound and two Chinatown bus companies each offer one-way tickets starting at $15. (Nicole C. Wong)

Abiomed Inc., a Danvers medical device company, said it has received approval from the Food and Drug Administration to sell its combination iPulse Circulatory Support System. The iPulse drives Abiomed and other manufacturers' intra-aortic balloons as well as products Abiomed may offer, the company said. These products are designed to treat patients suffering from acute heart failure. (Chris Reidy)

PerkinElmer Inc., of Waltham, said it has agreed to buy the newborn metabolic screening business of Florida-based Pediatrix Medical Group Inc. Financial terms were not disclosed, said PerkinElmer, which sells an array of life sciences instruments and services. PerkinElmer said it will acquire Pediatrix's metabolic screening laboratory and its StepOne newborn screening product, which is capable of analyzing more than 50 inherited disorders in newborns. PerkinElmer recently completed the $300 million acquisition of Cambridge-based ViaCell Inc. (Chris Reidy)

Federal prosecutors charged a Jamaica Plain man with fraud and obstruction of justice in connection with his role in placing deceptive market-timing trades in mutual funds. US Attorney Michael Sullivan alleged that Justin Ficken committed abuses while he was employed as a broker at Prudential Securities Inc. in Boston. Ficken and two others allegedly earned more than $6 million in commissions from the deceptive and fraudulent trading. (AP)

Genzyme Corp. won European approval for a one-shot version of Synvisc, a treatment for knee pain from arthritis, a move that the biotechnology company says will expand sales and lower the cost to patients. An existing version of Synvisc requires three injections given a week apart, the Cambridge company said. Synvisc makes up for the loss of synovial fluid, a natural lubricant for the joints. The one shot eases pain for six months, the company said. Genzyme will seek approval of the new version in Asia, Canada, and Latin America based on the European action, according to a statement. The US Food and Drug Administration last month demanded more information and analysis on the updated version, called Synvisc-One, delaying action. Genzyme previously said it expected a decision by year's end. (Bloomberg)