North Carolina’s hog farmers came under a vicious, well-financed attack by class-action law firms in recent years. Five cases went to trials, with negative – and unfair – outcomes in each. Now, the first trial, which involved the Kinlaw Farm in Bladen County, is making its way through the appeals process at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, based in Richmond, Va.
The first trial verdict must be reversed. That’s the message from defendant Murphy-Brown in a persuasive 58-page brief that outlines, in meticulous detail, the numerous and significant errors made by W. Earl Britt, the judge who presided over the case.
The appeal makes clear how critical the appeals court’s review will be.
“This suit is the tip of a spear aimed at North Carolina’s agricultural economy,” the appeals brief says. “… A great deal depends on the outcome of these coordinated lawsuits, including the livelihoods of many in eastern North Carolina’s predominantly agricultural communities.”
Indeed, it does.
The appeals court filings — and accompanying briefs filed by the NC Pork Council, NC Farm Bureau, and other agricultural groups — outline how the plaintiffs received unfair jury decisions by claiming that hog farms near their rural North Carolina homes are a nuisance.
The appeals note that the plaintiffs did not seek any injunctive relief — that is, they did not ask the court to make any changes on the farms. They just want money, and they have their sights set on Murphy-Brown, the state’s largest hog producer and a division of Smithfield Foods.
Murphy-Brown has identified seven critical mistakes that occurred during the trial and by the judge that influenced the outcome of the cases. Those mistakes can be read here.
“These errors took a costly toll. Deprived of the opportunity to resolve factual disputes, improperly exposed to prejudicial evidence, misled by one-sided expert testimony, and misinformed about the law, the jury awarded ten plaintiffs more than $50 million — all for the alleged annoyance and discomfort of living near a farm that opened nearly 25 years ago,” the court filing says.
The brief filed by the NC Pork Council, NC Farm Bureau and other agricultural groups raises concerns about additional issues that call into question the “overall fairness of the trial, which does not give the appearance of having been conducted on a level playing field.” Specifically, they highlight the location of the trial and the court’s refusal to allow jurors to visit the Kinlaw Farm themselves.
Through five trials, held from April 2018 to March 2019, juries awarded 36 plaintiffs a total of $550.5 million. (The awards were later reduced to approximately $98 million due to a state law that places a limit on punitive damages.) Those verdicts have put family farmers out of business and taken a toll on our rural communities.
What Happens Next
Murphy-Brown has asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit to consider the following options:
(1) Reverse the punitive damages award because there was insufficient evidence to allow punitive damages, and order a new trial limited to liability and compensatory damages;
(2) Dismiss the case because (a) damages should have been limited to the plaintiffs’ loss of property value, of which none was presented, and (b) the trial did not include Kinlaw Farms, an indispensable party, thereby forcing the plaintiffs to refile their case in state court; or
(3) Order a new trial that (a) excludes the testimony of plaintiffs’ expert Shane Rogers and permits the excluded testimony of Dr. Pamela Dalton; (b) excludes improper evidence relating to the profits of Smithfield Food and WH Group, as well as the nationality of ownership; and (c) allows the jury to determine whether the claimed nuisance is continuing or recurring.
Murphy-Brown has requested the opportunity to present its case in front of a Court of Appeals panel. At this time, no decision has been made about whether oral arguments will be made. If allowed, those arguments would not be made until December 2019 or early next year.
There is no set timeline for when the Court of Appeals may ultimately decide this case. If oral arguments are presented, the court typically issues a ruling within three to six months. In the meantime, the remaining nuisance lawsuits – and future planned trials – are on hold.
So, we wait. And we pray. And we hope that the appeals court will exercise wisdom and good judgment in reversing the many errors that were made in a Raleigh courtroom. We will continue to stand by our family farmers and tell their side of the story.
The N.C. Pork Council recently published a comprehensive update on the nuisance lawsuits and the appeal filed by Murphy-Brown with the U.S. Court of Appeals. NC Farm Families is providing a condensed summary of that article to keep our farm families informed about the status of the lawsuits and the arguments in Murphy-Brown’s appeal. You can read the entire article in the NC Pork Report.