[quote]Farm Business Communications, 2/5/2008
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Ridley agrees to $6M settlement in BSE lawsuit
By FBC staff
Winnipeg feed maker Ridley Inc. will pay $6 million to Canada's cattle producers to end its exposure to class actions over the arrival of mad cow disease.
The company said in a press release Tuesday that it will pay $6 million into a plaintiffs' settlement trust fund to settle claims against it in four co-ordinated lawsuits filed by ranchers in Alberta, Ontario, Quebec and Saskatchewan.
"Ridley makes no admission of liability or wrongdoing in the matter and we will continue to contest any allegation we were responsible for the plaintiffs' damages," said Ridley CEO Steve VanRoekel in the company's release.
However, he said, "resolving these lawsuits now minimizes the costs associated with defending an already lengthy litigation, eliminates the uncertainty, and allows us to move our business forward."
The proposed suits had alleged that negligence by both Ridley and the federal government led to the the infection of an Alberta cow with mad cow disease, and the subsequent BSE crisis starting in May 2003.
The suits had claimed the "most likely source" of feed-borne BSE to infect the first BSE-positive cow was calf starter sold under Ridley's Feed-Rite brand. They also claimed the company and Ottawa should have stopped the use of ruminant meat and bone meal in ruminant feed the year before the first feed ban took effect in Canada in 1997.
Of the four suits, only the Quebec suit has been authorized to proceed as a class action and hasn't yet gone to trial.
The Alberta and Saskatchewan suits are in abeyance, meaning they're temporarily suspended. The Ontario suit -- which proposed to include cattle producers from the other six provinces in its "class" -- has yet to get to a class action certification hearing.
Ottawa not off hook
The suits are expected to continue against the federal government, however, and Ridley expects to be involved in those suits in some way other than as a defendant. Thus, the company expects it will still have to ring up related legal bills and pay those out of corporate earnings.
The agreement calls for Ridley to allow the four suits to be certified as class actions, so the settlement "class" -- including anyone who was a Canadian cattle producer on May 20, 2003 -- can be informed of the settlement and their right to opt out. Any cattle producers who opt out of this settlement would still have the right to try to sue Ridley, but on their own dime.
Ridley would then pay its settlement into the fund, as long as the number of producers who opt out is below an agreed-upon limit.
It's not yet known how the settlement cash will be paid or how many cattle producers will be paid. The 2001 census of agriculture lists 67,838 farms producing beef cattle, as well as 18,321 dairy farms. For each of those to share equally in the Ridley settlement would mean payouts of less than $70 each.
VanRoekel reiterated that Ridley "fully complied with applicable laws and regulations and good sense in the manufacturing and labelling of our products" but is still "pleased" to resolve what had been a major unknown liability looming over the company.
The four suits claim potentially several hundreds of millions of dollars in damages relating to cattle producers' lost revenues following the closure of the U.S. border and many other countries' ports to Canadian beef and cattle in 2003.
The U.S., Canada's main export market for beef and cattle, resumed imports of beef from younger Canadian animals in August 2003, imports of live cattle under age 30 months in March 2005 and certified older cattle only in November last year.
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Ridley agrees to $6M settlement in BSE lawsuit
By FBC staff
Winnipeg feed maker Ridley Inc. will pay $6 million to Canada's cattle producers to end its exposure to class actions over the arrival of mad cow disease.
The company said in a press release Tuesday that it will pay $6 million into a plaintiffs' settlement trust fund to settle claims against it in four co-ordinated lawsuits filed by ranchers in Alberta, Ontario, Quebec and Saskatchewan.
"Ridley makes no admission of liability or wrongdoing in the matter and we will continue to contest any allegation we were responsible for the plaintiffs' damages," said Ridley CEO Steve VanRoekel in the company's release.
However, he said, "resolving these lawsuits now minimizes the costs associated with defending an already lengthy litigation, eliminates the uncertainty, and allows us to move our business forward."
The proposed suits had alleged that negligence by both Ridley and the federal government led to the the infection of an Alberta cow with mad cow disease, and the subsequent BSE crisis starting in May 2003.
The suits had claimed the "most likely source" of feed-borne BSE to infect the first BSE-positive cow was calf starter sold under Ridley's Feed-Rite brand. They also claimed the company and Ottawa should have stopped the use of ruminant meat and bone meal in ruminant feed the year before the first feed ban took effect in Canada in 1997.
Of the four suits, only the Quebec suit has been authorized to proceed as a class action and hasn't yet gone to trial.
The Alberta and Saskatchewan suits are in abeyance, meaning they're temporarily suspended. The Ontario suit -- which proposed to include cattle producers from the other six provinces in its "class" -- has yet to get to a class action certification hearing.
Ottawa not off hook
The suits are expected to continue against the federal government, however, and Ridley expects to be involved in those suits in some way other than as a defendant. Thus, the company expects it will still have to ring up related legal bills and pay those out of corporate earnings.
The agreement calls for Ridley to allow the four suits to be certified as class actions, so the settlement "class" -- including anyone who was a Canadian cattle producer on May 20, 2003 -- can be informed of the settlement and their right to opt out. Any cattle producers who opt out of this settlement would still have the right to try to sue Ridley, but on their own dime.
Ridley would then pay its settlement into the fund, as long as the number of producers who opt out is below an agreed-upon limit.
It's not yet known how the settlement cash will be paid or how many cattle producers will be paid. The 2001 census of agriculture lists 67,838 farms producing beef cattle, as well as 18,321 dairy farms. For each of those to share equally in the Ridley settlement would mean payouts of less than $70 each.
VanRoekel reiterated that Ridley "fully complied with applicable laws and regulations and good sense in the manufacturing and labelling of our products" but is still "pleased" to resolve what had been a major unknown liability looming over the company.
The four suits claim potentially several hundreds of millions of dollars in damages relating to cattle producers' lost revenues following the closure of the U.S. border and many other countries' ports to Canadian beef and cattle in 2003.
The U.S., Canada's main export market for beef and cattle, resumed imports of beef from younger Canadian animals in August 2003, imports of live cattle under age 30 months in March 2005 and certified older cattle only in November last year.