OTHER NEWS - Oct. 21, 1995

Piano Distributor Awarded More Damages: Former piano distributor Vernon Schafer Jr. was awarded $10 million in punitive damages by a jury, which found that the U.S. affiliate of giant Daewoo Group defrauded him and destroyed his business. A day earlier, the jury awarded Schafer $3.62 million in compensatory damages in the case, which was originally filed against Schafer by Daewoo International (America) Corp. “I thought I was going to die before the verdict came in,” Schafer said in an interview from his Anaheim home. “This has been a great ordeal for me. I’ve been in business for 40 years and I’ve never had something like this happen.” Daewoo America said it will appeal. The jury in the Orange County Superior Court trial in Westminster found that Daewoo America had defrauded Schafer and ruined his once-thriving Schafer & Sons Piano & Organ Co. in Santa Ana by reneging on promises it made to him.