Companies to Watch: Ford issues layoffs, Verizon gets help in Huawei dispute, Amazon partners with Rite Aid

Here are the companies Yahoo Finance is watching today.

A big shake-up at Ford (F). The auto giant is reorganizing its operations in Europe and cutting about 20% of its workforce there. About 12,000 jobs are expected to be cut. They're also closing about a quarter of their plants. Facilities in Germany, the United Kingdom and Russia will be the hardest hit.

Our parent company, Verizon (VZ), is getting some new help in a patent dispute with Huawei. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FLA) has filed legislation blocking Huawei from seeking damages in U.S. courts. Huawei has demanded Verizon pay more than a billion dollars in licensing fees and calls the talks "common" negotiations.

There's a new spot to pick up your Amazon (AMZN) packages: Rite Aid (RAD) stores. Amazon has struck a deal with the drugstore chain to let you get your packages there. They'll be setting up special counters in 100 stores before expanding to more than 1,500 locations by the end of the year.

Google (GOOG) and the University of Chicago are being sued for sharing patient data. The university's medical center teamed up with Google in 2017 to share patient information as a way to improve predictive analysis in medicine. The suit alleges that some of the information on the shared records could be used with Google's tech to identify patients.

Bayer (BAYRY) is on the rise after it revealed plans to address its multi-billion dollar lawsuits related to the chemical glyphosate. The pharma company said it hired an attorney to advise its board to tackle the issue. The company’s shares have been under pressure after buying Monsanto, which faces legal issues after thousands of plaintiffs alleged the company’s glyphosate weedkiller causes cancer.