Who says diamonds are a girl’s best friend? Sterling Jewelers gets a PAPER BAG after 15 of the company’s current and former workers filed a class-action lawsuit against Sterling for allegedly underpaying its female employees and passing them over for promotions. One of the former employees involved in the lawsuit says she was fired after complaining that a male assistant manager who sold less than she did was still paid more. The plaintiffs are seeking tens of millions of dollars combined for lost earnings as well as punitive damages.

Boeing gets a PROFIT PROPELLER for its work developing new, fuel efficient technologies for its aircraft. Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner, a jet that will be 20 percent more fuel efficient than rival aircraft, won’t be rolled out until 2009, but still earns brownie points for helping to curb carbon emissions. On top of that, Boeing also developed a glider that runs on a single fuel cell and lightweight batteries and will emit no carbon dioxide, according to a report by the Telegraph Newspaper. And, hey, with the rising price of oil, using less jet fuel also saves Boeing some serious green.

Put “PROFIT PROPELLER” in your search engine, and you’re sure to come up with Yahoo, Google and Microsoft. The three bitter U.S. rivals have partnered with Human Rights Watch (HRW) to work on a Code of Conduct that deals with Internet censorship in China. HRW announced the initiative at a Tokyo press conference, saying that while the companies will still abide by Chinese censorship laws, they won’t go any further than required. HRW Executive Director Kenneth Ross noted that many companies go above and beyond Chinese law to block sites that they feel may be offensive, and this Code is being developed to prevent just that.

We’re awarding an antiquated PAPER BAG to Lockheed Martin to go along with its $773,000 settlement for an age-discrimination lawsuit. The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) accused the company of firing eight employees because of their age in October 2000 and announced the settlement in April of this year. A separate case last year resulted in Lockheed paying $131,000 to two former employees after the company withheld their severance for filing complaints with the EEOC.

Xerox gets a copy of the PROFIT PROPELLER it earned last year (read the Q4 2007 Good and Bad) for being named to the FTSE4Good Index Series for the first time. The FTSE4Good Index is a measure of performance for companies that excel in corporate responsibility. Xerox was chosen for the index because it met FTSE4Good’s criteria for corporate responsibility, human rights, environmental actions, social and stakeholder engagement and countering bribery.

De Beers digs up a PAPER BAG after the South African diamond company agreed to pay R2.3 billion (roughly $300 million) to various U.S. consumers in order to settle allegations of diamond price fixing. This settlement marks the end of 14 years of legal battles between De Beers and the United States, the largest consumer market for diamonds. Company spokespeople claim that this is something of a victory for the company, as now it can look forward to polishing up its reputation abroad.

A PAPER BAG floats over to Lufthansa Airlines and gets trapped in a jet turbine after the company agreed to settle a price-fixing case with a U.S. law firm. While Lufthansa didn’t announce the amount of the settlement, the firm, Cohen, Milstein, Hausfeld & Toll said the settlement was worth $85 million. The case was part of the European Union investigation into European and Japanese airlines that are suspected of price-fixing. Other airlines that have been investigated for the scheme include Air France, British Airways and Virgin Atlantic.

A PROFIT PROPELLER goes to the UK for giving the Financial Service Authority plea-bargaining powers. This gives the FSA the power to dish out what is considered “U.S.-style” prosecution immunity for whistle-blowers. This would match the similar whistleblower/plea-bargaining powers already given to the UK’s Serious Fraud Office and various tax officials. The new authority was delegated in response to the alleged raid on HBOS’ stock price last March, in which a group allegedly spread false rumors to drop the stock in order for short sellers to make millions.

Built tough environmentallyconscious. Ford revs up a PROFIT PROPELLER for outlining plans to reduce its fleet’s greenhouse gas emissions by 30 percent by 2020. This makes Ford the first U.S. automaker to publicly outline a specific plan to reduce carbon emissions. In full disclosure, these efforts began after a group of activist shareholders, spearheaded by the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility, put pressure on U.S. automakers to release their strategies on cutting future emissions. Nevertheless, we commend Ford for being the first to unveil such a plan.

A past-due PAPER BAG goes to Broadcom after the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission charged the technology company with five years’ worth of illegal stock option backdating. Broadcom quickly agreed to settle the charges for $12 million, though the company performed the usual song and dance of “neither admitting nor denying guilt.” The SEC says that Broadcom reported over $2 billion in excess due to the backdating, the largest backdating accounting restatement to date, according to the Associated Press.

Do you have a Profit Propeller or Paper Bag that you think should be awarded in the next issue of Ethisphere? Send your ideas to Stefan Linssen at slinssen@ethisphere.com.