Roughly 700 former Beef Products Inc. (BPI) employees have applied for financial aid from a fund created by a lawsuit settlement with ABC News.
Meat industry publication Meatingplace reports that BPI representatives are currently reviewing the applications to determine how it will distribute the funds, taking into account how employees were financially impacted and their length of service. The $10 million fund was established to benefit BPI employees negatively affected by plant closures in 2012. The fund was announced after BPI reached a settlement with ABC News in its defamation lawsuit.
BPI closed three of its production facilities in 2012 and laid off about 750 employees after business fell off following a series of media reports that referred to the company’s Lean Finely Textured Beef product as “pink slime.”
From the National Association of Farm Broadcasting News Service.