Judge Reduces Fine for Murphy-Brown
Published: Friday, May 18, 2018
The federal judge presiding over the hog odor nuisance lawsuit against Murphy-Brown LLC, a division of Smithfield Foods Inc., has reduced the damage sentence from more than $50 million to $3.25 million.
Senior U.S. District Judge W. Earl Britt granted a motion made by attorneys for Murphy-Brown to impose North Carolina's statutory cap on punitive damages. Under a 1995 state law, punitive damage awards are capped at three times the amount of compensatory damages or $250,000, whichever is greater.
The jury awarded the 10 plaintiffs in the case $750,000 in compensation in addition to the $50 million punitive damages. The decision means each of the plaintiffs would receive $325,000, a fraction of the $5.075 million the jury handed down a few weeks ago.
This case is one of 26 federal lawsuits filed against the company over hog farm odor.
Smithfield is appealing the verdict.
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