The Oklahoma Supreme Court on Tuesday tossed a $10 million jury verdict
against Tyson Foods Inc., granting the company's request for a new trial
based on allegations of juror misconduct and a mistake on interpreting
the law.
Springdale, Ark.-based Tyson Foods claimed on appeal that some
prospective jurors in the trial in McCurtain County, Okla., didn't
answer questions fully or truthfully on juror questionnaires and the
trial judge didn't allow oral questions on items covered in the forms
filled out by the panelists.
The high court also agreed with Tyson that the growers weren't covered
by the Oklahoma Consumer Protection Act. Growers had argued that since
Tyson provided them with feed and chicks, that gave them standing as
consumers.
Tyson has a large operation in the region, with more than 180 poultry
producers in southwest Arkansas and southeast Oklahoma that raise
broilers for Tyson's plant in Broken Bow, Okla. That plant and its
related operations, including a feed mill, employ more than 1,700
people.
In 2008, 54 growers, with Rusty Armstrong as lead plaintiff, sued Tyson,
claiming that farmers who didn't want to modernize their equipment were
given inferior feed and chicks. They claimed that Tyson had favored
growers who got better feed and livestock.
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