ABC News fails to get ‘pink slime’ case thrown out
The meat processor was forced to close three of its plants, and lay off 700 staff, after the American news network "knowingly and intentionally" published "disparaging statements regarding BPI and the lean finely textured beef (LFTB) it makes", referring to it as ‘pink slime’, in reports aired between March and April 2012.
The company filed a complaint in September 2012, after it claimed the negative statements were made even after BPI and others sent the ABC information from various sources, including the USDA, FDA, and food safety organisations, that the meat was safe and nutritious to eat.
Last month Judge Cheryle Gering of the Union County Circuit Court in South Dakota, ruled that Beef Products Inc may pursue 22 out of its 27 claims against ABC and others, including news anchor Diane Sawyer and reporter Jim Avila.
Erik Connolly, BPI’s attorney, said: "We are pleased with the court’s decision, which rejected nearly all of the defendants’ arguments. We look forward to starting discovery and ultimately presenting our case to a jury."
BPI claimed that, as a result of the comments made by the news network, sales of its LFTB decline by around three million pounds to two million pounds per week.
Dan Webb, chairman, Winston & Strawn LLP, said at the time: "Through nearly 200 false, misleading and defamatory statements, repeated continuously during a month-long misinformation campaign, ABC and other individuals knowingly misled consumers into believing that LFTB was not beef and not safe for public consumption, which is completely false."
BPI is looking to recover damages for defamation, product and food disparagement, and tortious interference with business relationships.
