By Maryclair Dale
Associated Press WritePhiladelphia – - Pilgrim’s Pride Corp. has settled four wrongful-death or injury lawsuits
involving the deadly 2002 listeria outbreak that was liked to one of its plants, the meat company
announced Friday.
The second food company tied to the outbreak, J.L. Foods, is set to defend itself in federal court
next week when the first case reaches trial.
Eight people died and more than 50 were sickened in the outbreak, which led to one of the
largest meat recalls in U.S. history.
The listeria strain found in the victims was found by federal investigators in meat processed at a
now-closed J.L. Foods plant in Camden, N.J., and in a plant of Pilgrim’s Pride subsidiary
Wampler Foods but not in the meat itself in Franconia, PA.
Neither Pilgrim’s Pride nor plaintiffs’ lawyers would disclose terms of the settlements, which
have not yet been filed in U.S. District Court.
The settlement announcement came a day after a federal judge refused to throw out the cases
pending in Philadelphia, saying a jury could reasonably find the tainted poultry products caused
the injuries and deaths.
“As we have said from the outset of litigation, our turkey deli products were safe to eat and did
not cause injuries to any of the individuals involved,” Pilgrim’s Pride spokesman Ray Atkinson
said Friday in a statement.
“We did this in order to bring the case to a close without incurring the costs and time associated
with a trial and possible appeal,” the statement said.
Plaintiff’s attorney Fred Pritzker said Pilgrim’s Pride and Wampler Foods are also negotiating to
settle suits filed in Union County, N.J., on behalf of several people including the family of an 81-
year old man who died and a woman who became ill and lost her unborn twins. Atkinson declined immediate comment.
The Philadelphia plaintiffs include a woman who became ill and delivered her child prematurely,
which attorneys maintain led to his serious disabilities.
Pilgrim’s Pride recalled 27 million pounds of cooked turkey and chicken and temporarily halted
operations at the Montgomery County plant after traces of listeria, a bacteria, were found there
after the outbreak.
The same bacteria turned up later during tests at the J.L. Foods plant in Camden, N.J., about 30
miles away. The company’s parent, Jack Lambersky Poultry Co., recalled more than 4.2 million
pounds of chicken and turkey meat.
“The case shows how important it is for companies to stay on top of their various sanitation and
production procedures, and stay on top of changes in federal regulations,” said attorney Shanon
Carson, who represents the family of Raymond Drayton, one of the Philadelphia plaintiffs.
“When companies fail to do that, outbreaks like this result.”
Drayton, 75, a school bus driver in Philadelphia, died in September 2002. His widow said in
depositions that he had eaten several brands of turkey and chicken products.
Lawyers for J.L. Foods did not return telephone messages left Friday.
In his ruling, U.S. District Judge Timothy Savage said the plaintiffs’ lawyers can rely on
“alternate liability theory” and argue that meat from either one of the two plants sickened them.
They do not have to tie the food they ate to a single plant, because the strain was only found at
the two sites.
The defendants must instead convince a jury that they were not the source of the tainted food,
Savage said.
The incubation period for listeria can be as long as 60 days, making it difficult for plaintiffs to
remember exactly what foods they ate, Pritzker said. Also, people do not always know what
brand of turkey or deli meat they might be eating.
“If you go to a deli counter, you just say you want some turkey,” Pritzker said. “Because of the
long incubation period, people just don’t remember where they ate.”r
