8/11/2017 Disney "pink slime" lawsuit settled for whopping $177 million - CBS News
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By JONATHAN BERR / MONEYWATCH / August 10, 2017, 2:02 PM Market Data Disney "pink slime" lawsuit Enter Ticker Symbol or Company Name settled for whopping $177 NASDAQ: Aug 11, 2017 million
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Ground beef passes through a machine that makes hamburger patties at a meat packing and distribution facility in San Francisco, Calif. / GETTY 8 Comments / Share / Tweet / Stumble / Email #1
Five years after an infamous ABC News report describing "pink slime" in ground beef created a national uproar, the network's corporate parent Walt Disney (DIS) has settled a defamation case brought by the food company that created the product for more than $177 million, the most ever in a corporate legal case of its kind. ALAN WALKER - FADED Meat processor Beef Products Inc. filed suit in 2012 charging that ABC's coverage GET A FREE SONG of its product -- officially called "finely textured beef" -- misled consumers into thinking it wasn't safe to eat. After the reports aired, some grocery chains said they would no longer carry ground beef containing what ABC dubbed "pink slime." As a result, sales plummeted from about 5 million pounds per week to less than 2 million pounds.
The South Dakota-based company, whose product was used in about 70 percent of the nation's ground beef, had originally sought as much as $1.9 billion in damages, an amount that could have been tripled to $5.7 billion under South Dakota's Agricultural Food Product Disparagement Act, which the company alleged ABC had violated.
Executives from the Burbank, Calif.-based media conglomerate, whose properties include ESPN and Walt Disney World resorts, settled the case with BPI in June.
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/disney-pink-slime-lawsuit-settled-for-177-million-abc-news/ 1/4 8/11/2017 Disney "pink slime" lawsuit settled for whopping $177 million - CBS News Disney disclosed the legal costs associated with the litigation when it reported earnings Thursday. Terms of the settlement, though, were confidential.
"ABC was hemorrhaging legal costs," said Charles Glasser, a media lawyer and a Media Law and Ethics Professor at NYU's Graduate School of Journalism, adding that a trial alone could have Sponsored by Hilton cost ABC "a million dollars Join the Weekenders or more." Join the Weekenders, there’s a Hilton for you. "We forget that these news organizations are Watch CBSN Live Play VIDEO corporations -- they have a Lawsuit accuses Disney of collecting kids' info fiduciary duty to What's Stopping China From on game apps stockholders," he said. Taking A Tougher Stance On North Korea? BPI's case was unusual for several reasons. About 80 percent of libel and defamation cases get thrown out of CBS News Gains Access To court on procedural grounds before they reach a jury. Media companies that make Guam Air Base what most experts would deem "honest mistakes" are typically protected by the First Amendment. However, when the case survives the initial challenges, the odds tilt in favor of the plaintiff against the media companies -- particularly those seen New Video Raises Questions About The Safety Of Parking as having deep pockets. Garage In Austin, Texas "They had to do a risk calculation about what if this thing goes to trial," Glasser said. President Trump Continues To Threaten North Korea Over The Hulk Hogan litigation against the now-defunct Gawker website might have Their Nuclear Arm Development served as a cautionary tale for ABC News.
Gawker Media filed for 37-Year-Old Man Jumps On Stage During Britney Spears bankruptcy protection last year after losing the case the former professional wrestler brought against it for publishing a sex tape featuring him. A Florida jury awarded $140 million in damages to Hogan, who ultimately settled for $31 million through federal bankruptcy court. Silicon Play VIDEO Valley billionaire Peter Thiel, Gawker CEO Nick Denton on feud with Peter whom Gawker had outed as Thiel, Hulk Hogan verdict a gay man in earlier coverage, had bankrolled the Latest Features Hogan case. Stocks level out after North Whether the BPI and Gawker cases will have a "chilling effect" on newsrooms is Korea-fueled slide hard to say.
"Yes, there is much more public hostility to the media in general," Glasser said, What good is an electric car if adding that there is a "sad tendency to say the sky is falling every time a media you can't charge it? entity loses a case."
For his part, Glasser doesn't share that pessimism, noting that huge jury verdicts California tech billionaire against the media aren't new and that the protections afforded by the First ordered to restore access to Amendment remain robust. beach
© 2017 CBS Interactive Inc.. All Rights Reserved. http://www.cbsnews.com/news/disney-pink-slime-lawsuit-settled-for-177-million-abc-news/ "The Takeout:" Treasury's Tony 2/4 8/11/2017 Disney "pink slime" lawsuit settled for whopping $177 million - CBS News 8 Comments / Share / Tweet / Stumble / Email "The Takeout:" Treasury's Tony Sayegh calls for bipartisan tax reform Jonathan Berr » ON TWITTER Trump Org employees forced Jonathan Berr is an award-winning journalist and podcaster based in New Jersey whose to agree not to sue the main focus is on business and economic issues. company 21464 VIEWS
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