Accord Reached in Computer Monitor Suits

A San Francisco Superior Court judge gave preliminary approval to a settlement of a series of false-advertising class-action lawsuits against more than 30 computer and monitor makers. The suits charged that such manufacturers as Dell Computer Corp., Digital Equipment Corp., Hewlett-Packard Co. and Apple Computer Inc. overstated their monitors’ viewing areas in advertisements. Notice of the terms of the settlement will be mailed to people who bought computer monitors from any of the defendants between May 1991 and May 1995, according to a statement issued by Millberg Weiss Bershad Hynes & Lerach, the San Diego law firm representing the plaintiffs. The law firm did not return phone calls seeking comment. “The San Francisco Superior Court gave preliminary approval to a settlement entered into by Apple and more than 30 other computer companies regarding the way the computer industry advertises the size of computer monitors,” said Apple spokeswoman Susan Lehman. The settlement will not be formally approved until a hearing scheduled for later this year.