Members of the family who own OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma agreed to pay up to $7.4 billion in a new settlement to lawsuits over the toll of the powerful prescription painkiller, New York Attorney General Letitia James announced Thursday.

The deal, agreed to by Purdue Pharma, the Sackler family members who own the company and lawyers representing state and local governments and thousands of victims of the opioid crisis, represents an increase of more than $1 billion over a previous settlement deal that was rejected last year by the U.S. Supreme Court.

It’s among the largest settlements reached over the past several years in a series of lawsuits by local, state, Native American tribal governments and others seeking to hold companies responsible for a deadly epidemic. Aside from the Purdue deal, others worth around $50 billion have been announced — and most of the money is required to be used to stem the crisis.

The deal still needs court approval, and some of the details are yet to be ironed out.

Under the new proposal, members of the Sackler family who own Purdue would contribute up to $7.4 billion over 15 years and give up ownership of Purdue, which would become a new entity with its board appointed by states and others who sued the company. A portion of the money is also to go to victims of the opioid crisis or their survivors.

Costco defends DEI practices

Costco is pushing back on a shareholder proposal that urges the wholesale club operator to conduct an evaluation of any business risks posed by its diversity, equity and inclusion practices. Investors were expected to vote on the recommendation during the company’s annual meeting Thursday.

The National Center for Public Policy Research, a conservative think tank based in Washington, submitted the proposal, arguing that Costco’s DEI initiatives hold “litigation, reputational and financial risks to the company, and therefore financial risks to shareholders.”

The think tank has made a similar proposal to Apple, and like some American companies that already scaled back or retreated from their diversity policies, cited a U.S. Supreme Court decision in July 2023 that outlawed affirmative action in college admissions.

Costco officials could not be reached for comment on the DEI proposal.

JCPenney again tries reinvention

JCPenney has weathered a bankruptcy, store closings and a CEO straight out of Silicon Valley — all followed by continual revenue declines. Now, the storied company is getting another shot at rebirth.

The 650-location department store chain has joined forces with the company behind names such as Eddie Bauer and Aéropostale to create a company called Catalyst Brands. It will be based in Plano, Texas, and led by Marc Rosen, former head of JCPenney.

JCPenney under the Catalyst Brands umbrella is looking to get stronger with scale as it leverages complementary strengths that cover key retail areas, such as product design, sourcing and new technology tools. It could mean changes to how and where items are sold and even new store formats, according to Rosen in an emailed statement.

“The real question is, ‘OK, what are they going to do now?’” said Katherine Black, a partner at global strategy and management consulting firm Kearney who leads food, drug and mass market retail. “If they build the right platform for getting those brands to outpace their growth, then they’ve got a really interesting story.”

Jobless claims tick to 2021 level

Jobless claims applications ticked up modestly last week, but the total number of Americans collecting unemployment benefits rose to their highest level in more than three years.

Applications for jobless benefits rose by 6,000 to 223,000 for the week ending Jan. 18, the Labor Department said Thursday. Analysts were expecting 219,000 new applications.

Weekly applications for jobless benefits are considered a proxy for layoffs.

Bloomberg and The Associated Press contributed to this report.