It didn't take Tyson Foods Inc. too long to decide to appeal the recent decission by an Oklahoma jury in McCurtain County to award ten Tyson poultry contract growers $7.3 million. The growers alleged and the jury found that Tyson had '"defrauded"' the growers by using "'deceptive and coercive business practices,"' as this blog reported yesterday.As Curtis Killman reports for the Tulsa World online, the jury awarded the growers $4.8 million in actual damages and another $2.5 million in punitive damages. Tyson called the decision by the jury a "'runaway verdict"' and warned during their presentation that the legal environment in McCurtain County may make it difficult for the company to maintain its current economic investments and future plans for the county.
Tyson has its hand full with the allegations against it. Roughly 60 growers originally brought suit against the company, but the cases were split up to make them more manageable. Killman writes that a second group of plaintiffs are set to begin their trial in May.
To read Killman's article in the Tulsa World, click here.
To read a previous US Agricultural & Food Law and Policy Blog post on the case, click here.
Posted: 04/06/10
