A European court Wednesday upheld most of a massive fine levied against Microsoft by the European Commission’s competition watchdog, closing a case against the software giant that began in 1998.

In an appeals ruling, the General Court of the European Union rejected Microsoft Corp.’s request to dismiss the fine levied in 2008, but did trim it by $50 million to $1.1 billion. Counting two earlier fines, the case has wound up costing Microsoft $2.1 billion.

That’s the most ever resulting from a single antitrust case in Europe, though in 2009 Intel Corp. was hit with the largest single fine, $1.4 billion.

The court in Luxembourg said its decision “essentially upholds the Commission’s decision and rejects all the arguments put forward by Microsoft in support of annulment.”

PNC Bank acts to settle overdraft-fee lawsuit

PNC Bank has reached a $90 million settlement in a class-action lawsuit over excessive overdraft fees, the latest of several big banks to do so.

The agreement was filed Tuesday in Miami federal court. It is subject to approval by Senior U.S. District Judge James Lawrence King, who is overseeing similar lawsuits that were consolidated against about 30 banks.

Lawyers say details in the PNC deal will be filed within 45 days.

JP Morgan Chase, Bank of America, TD Bank and others have reached similar agreements.

The lawsuit claims banks improperly processed debit card transactions to maximize the overdraft fees customers paid. The PNC settlement says the Pittsburgh-based bank is not admitting liability.

GE to add 380 hires at plant in Louisville

General Electric Co. said Wednesday it will add 380 more workers this summer as the company ramps up production of a new line of refrigerators, part of a planned $800 million investment in its Louisville operations by 2014.

The new employment comes on top of about 1,000 production jobs already added at GE’s sprawling Appliance Park operations in Louisville in the first half of the year, mostly to produce new bottom freezer refrigerators and a new water heater.

The newest 380 employees will man a new second shift to produce the refrigerators. The company is still hiring those workers, who will start at $13.01 an hour plus benefits, spokeswoman Kim Freeman said.

GE is sifting through 16,000 applications it took earlier this year and will not take additional requests for the jobs, she said.

The company is ramping up production in hopes of tapping into the growing popularity of bottom freezer refrigerators.

CEO steps down at T-Mobile USA

T-Mobile USA, the country’s fourth-largest cellphone carrier, on Wednesday said that its CEO has resigned and its chief operating officer is filling in while the company searches for a replacement.

T-Mobile, based in Bellevue, Wash., is struggling to compete against its largest rivals. Departing CEO Philipp Humm took the reins in November 2010, with a mission to reverse the slow slide of the business without help from the German parent company, Deutsche Telekom AG.

But revenue continued to decline every quarter of Humm’s tenure.

Humm was an executive with at Deutsche Telekom before taking the U.S. job.