Beef Products Inc., maker of lean, finely textured beef (aka LFTB and commonly referred to as “pink slime”) has announced this morning that it is filing a state court defamation lawsuit against ABC News arising out of the network’s coverage of the product this past spring. The suit seeks $1.2 billion dollars in actual and punitive damages.
At a press conference which is still underway as of this writing, BPI’s lead attorney alleges that ABC News made roughly two hundred false and misleading statements about the product and that the network “improperly interfered” with the relationships between BPI and its customers.
ABC’s response was short and to the point:
Statement from Jeffrey W. Schneider, Senior Vice President, ABC News:
“The lawsuit is without merit. We will contest it vigorously.”
Here’s the take of leading food safety lawyer Bill Marler:
I just do not get the liability. I just do not see it.
On damages – IMHO, most have been self-inflicted by BPI. I was in the BPI plant in 2009 and talked to them about the coming NYT story and they should be transparent.
Legal commentator Popehat looks forward to the lawsuit and its First Amendment implications.
I’ll share updates regarding the litigation as warranted.
Because news of this lawsuit is likely to stir the passions of LFTB supporters, before I sign off I’d like to remind everyone of my stringent comments policy. Sadly, this reminder is necessary in light of the profane and sometimes overtly antisemitic comments which LFTB supporters have regularly attempted to post on this blog over the last several months. Please be aware that all such comments will be automatically deleted at my discretion and the commenter’s IP address will be placed permanently in my spam folder. Thank you.
[Ed. Update 9/13/12 11:15 CST: Here is the actual complaint. In addition to ABC News, other named defendants include the two USDA microbiologists and the former BPI employee who appeared on ABC’s reports regarding LFTB.]
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