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BPI Using Settlement Funds to Help Employees

Dan Beef, Industry News Release

employeesOwners of Beef Products Inc. have established a $10 million fund to benefit former BPI employees impacted by plant closures. The fund will help employees who were laid off when sales dropped stemming from a series of reports about the company’s Lean Finely Textured Beef product broadcast by ABC News.

BPI laid off roughly 750 employees and closed facilities in Iowa, Kansas, and Texas at the time of the reports in 2012. Following a settlement with ABC in its lawsuit, BPI announced the fund this week.

In June, BPI settled a $1.9 billion lawsuit against ABC and correspondent Jim Avila for defamation and claims that the network had used false information. The settlement amount was not made public, but the Walt Disney Company ABC’s parent company listed a $177 million litigation settlement in a quarterly financial filing.

From the National Association of Farm Broadcasting News Service.