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Ridley Agrees to Settlement in Canadian BSE Lawsuit

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It's not yet known how the settlement cash will be paid or how many cattle producers will be paid. The 2001 census of agriculture lists 67,838 farms producing beef cattle, as well as 18,321 dairy farms. For each of those to share equally in the Ridley settlement would mean payouts of less than $70 each.
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Hey Kaiser-- more big money for your pocket...Probably won't cover the liquor bills for the attorneys :wink: :lol: :p
At least it might open up a case against the government......




Farm Business Communications, 2/5/2008


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Ridley agrees to $6M settlement in BSE lawsuit

By FBC staff


Winnipeg feed maker Ridley Inc. will pay $6 million to Canada's cattle producers to end its exposure to class actions over the arrival of mad cow disease.

The company said in a press release Tuesday that it will pay $6 million into a plaintiffs' settlement trust fund to settle claims against it in four co-ordinated lawsuits filed by ranchers in Alberta, Ontario, Quebec and Saskatchewan.

"Ridley makes no admission of liability or wrongdoing in the matter and we will continue to contest any allegation we were responsible for the plaintiffs' damages," said Ridley CEO Steve VanRoekel in the company's release.

However, he said, "resolving these lawsuits now minimizes the costs associated with defending an already lengthy litigation, eliminates the uncertainty, and allows us to move our business forward."

The proposed suits had alleged that negligence by both Ridley and the federal government led to the the infection of an Alberta cow with mad cow disease, and the subsequent BSE crisis starting in May 2003.

The suits had claimed the "most likely source" of feed-borne BSE to infect the first BSE-positive cow was calf starter sold under Ridley's Feed-Rite brand. They also claimed the company and Ottawa should have stopped the use of ruminant meat and bone meal in ruminant feed the year before the first feed ban took effect in Canada in 1997.

Of the four suits, only the Quebec suit has been authorized to proceed as a class action and hasn't yet gone to trial.

The Alberta and Saskatchewan suits are in abeyance, meaning they're temporarily suspended. The Ontario suit -- which proposed to include cattle producers from the other six provinces in its "class" -- has yet to get to a class action certification hearing.

Ottawa not off hook

The suits are expected to continue against the federal government, however, and Ridley expects to be involved in those suits in some way other than as a defendant. Thus, the company expects it will still have to ring up related legal bills and pay those out of corporate earnings.

The agreement calls for Ridley to allow the four suits to be certified as class actions, so the settlement "class" -- including anyone who was a Canadian cattle producer on May 20, 2003 -- can be informed of the settlement and their right to opt out. Any cattle producers who opt out of this settlement would still have the right to try to sue Ridley, but on their own dime.

Ridley would then pay its settlement into the fund, as long as the number of producers who opt out is below an agreed-upon limit.

It's not yet known how the settlement cash will be paid or how many cattle producers will be paid. The 2001 census of agriculture lists 67,838 farms producing beef cattle, as well as 18,321 dairy farms. For each of those to share equally in the Ridley settlement would mean payouts of less than $70 each.

VanRoekel reiterated that Ridley "fully complied with applicable laws and regulations and good sense in the manufacturing and labelling of our products" but is still "pleased" to resolve what had been a major unknown liability looming over the company.

The four suits claim potentially several hundreds of millions of dollars in damages relating to cattle producers' lost revenues following the closure of the U.S. border and many other countries' ports to Canadian beef and cattle in 2003.

The U.S., Canada's main export market for beef and cattle, resumed imports of beef from younger Canadian animals in August 2003, imports of live cattle under age 30 months in March 2005 and certified older cattle only in November last year.
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I wonder if we could get that payout to automatically go to the Kaiser cause.

Six million dollars is a friggin slap on the wrist for the trouble that was caused the Canadian beef industry :evil: :mad:
 
Mrs.Greg said:
I wonder if we could get that payout to automatically go to the Kaiser cause.

Six million dollars is a friggin slap on the wrist for the trouble that was caused the Canadian beef industry :evil: :mad:
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Yep-- I wonder if the cattlemans attorneys settled- in order to use Ridley and their testimony to go after the government...Otherways its not worth all the hassle.....
 
Oldtimer said:
Mrs.Greg said:
I wonder if we could get that payout to automatically go to the Kaiser cause.

Six million dollars is a friggin slap on the wrist for the trouble that was caused the Canadian beef industry :evil: :mad:
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Yep-- I wonder if the cattlemans attorneys settled- in order to use Ridley and their testimony to go after the government...Otherways its not worth all the hassle.....
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Hopefully,even at that I'd rather the ranchers group would keep the money for the fight. Poor company,they had the "Major unknown liability looming over thier heads"...out of respect for Steve,I'm not going to use the word I'm thinking :evil:
 
He is implying that not all Canadian ranchers believe the "infectious" meat and bone meal HYPOTHESIS.

If the "most likely" cause of transmission was milk replacer, then do the tests ...... feed the milk replacer manufactured from animals with BSE. While they are at it, they could experiment by feeding strontium 90 to dairy cows to measure how much of the isotope gets into the calf from the mother, naturally and via processed milk replacer.

Ridley makes no admission of liability or wrongdoing in the matter and we will continue to contest any allegation we were responsible for the plaintiffs' damages," said Ridley CEO Steve VanRoekel in the company's release
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.

So what does this settlement accomplish? Nothing. I'd like to see these cases go to court where the arguements for and against feed transmission would be brought forward.
 
Kathy said:
He is implying that not all Canadian ranchers believe the "infectious" meat and bone meal HYPOTHESIS.

If the "most likely" cause of transmission was milk replacer, then do the tests ...... feed the milk replacer manufactured from animals with BSE. While they are at it, they could experiment by feeding strontium 90 to dairy cows to measure how much of the isotope gets into the calf from the mother, naturally and via processed milk replacer.

Ridley makes no admission of liability or wrongdoing in the matter and we will continue to contest any allegation we were responsible for the plaintiffs' damages," said Ridley CEO Steve VanRoekel in the company's release
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.

So what does this settlement accomplish? Nothing. I'd like to see these cases go to court where the arguements for and against feed transmission would be brought forward.
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I actually understood what he was implying but wanted his take on it because he does alot of bragging about Thier feed ban. As it is Kathy theres how many theories on what caused our BSE,who knows which is TOTALLY correct,maybe all of them :shock: Theres ALOT of cattlemen out there believe its related to the CWD that our government stupidly paid elk and deer ranchers to bring into our province,heck I even kinda wonder that one myself. The fact remains that adding ruminants and bonemeal to feed was totally wrong and is THOUGHT to cause BSE and they damn well should have been sued,and the fine should have been alot higher!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
Sandhusker said:
Mrs.Greg said:
Sandhusker said:
How many Canadian producers actually believe Ridley was responsible for your BSE situation?
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Your implying what :???:
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Implications are generally derivatives of statements. I was asking a question.
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Well my answer was above....whats your take on whats the cause of BSE????? Its really no different then Alzhiemers,every case is toally different that I have a hard time believing thiers ONE cause
 
Nobody knows the cause. Feeding SRMs spreads the disease.

I was asking if you Canadians on this board believed this; "The proposed suits had alleged that negligence by both Ridley and the federal government led to the the infection of an Alberta cow with mad cow disease, and the subsequent BSE crisis starting in May 2003."

Did Ripley start the crisis or are some of your cases not related to Ripley?
 
One of many steps folks.

I would hope that all of this money goes toward the next step which is to
have our feds hand over the big cheque to the producers of Canada.

This one is about compensation Kathy - the BSE transmission fight will continue, but for now let's put some money into the soldiers hands.

As to Mrs. Greg's direction of funds - what I dream of is a "tie in" of the big cheque to a proposal like the "Canada Gold Beef" value chain and even producer owned plants so that we can build an industry for our children out of this shithole we are in now.

Maybe Oldtimer and the gang will learn something and take their own feds to task with their own BSE issue. Don't get to pissed when the big cheque comes Oldtimer, if we can't tie it to "Canada Gold" most of the old farts left will be spending it in Arizona in the winter anyway.
 
rkaiser said:
Maybe Oldtimer and the gang will learn something and take their own feds to task with their own BSE issue. Don't get to p****d when the big cheque comes Oldtimer, if we can't tie it to "Canada Gold" most of the old farts left will be spending it in Arizona in the winter anyway.
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What do you think R-CALF has been doing for years? They have been suing the USDA (our government) over changing BSE firewalls that have/were decided by their top TSE experts- and had been in place for years and were changed with NO new science to justify them....

Our government won't allow themslves to be sued for incompetence-and has in the latest rulings won't even allow the courts to challenge their decisions- even tho I'm sure future history will show they were......
 
rkaiser said:
One of many steps folks.

I would hope that all of this money goes toward the next step which is to
have our feds hand over the big cheque to the producers of Canada.

This one is about compensation Kathy - the BSE transmission fight will continue, but for now let's put some money into the soldiers hands.

As to Mrs. Greg's direction of funds - what I dream of is a "tie in" of the big cheque to a proposal like the "Canada Gold Beef" value chain and even producer owned plants so that we can build an industry for our children out of this shithole we are in now.

Maybe Oldtimer and the gang will learn something and take their own feds to task with their own BSE issue. Don't get to p****d when the big cheque comes Oldtimer, if we can't tie it to "Canada Gold" most of the old farts left will be spending it in Arizona in the winter anyway.
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Take our government to task? Are you forgetting the Ninth's ruling that the government must be given deference?
 
What I would like ot know is how many producers actually joined up with this fight? I know not every producer did join. So how can they use a census number to equal a payout? Plus the lawyers ahve likely done lots of work on this case and they cost lots.
 
You bet the lawyers cost lots MB and the six mil is likley going to get spent --- when it gets finalized ---by laywers and such on the case against the feds. As far as signing up on the class action suit; everyone will still have a chance. This thing will go on for a few more years yet, but proof of ownership during the BSE crisis will be all you need to take part. At least that's the way I see it. Maybe one of our readers could help us out with that question ---- hay Mr. P. :wink:
 
Some info from a pal o mine for you Manitoba; and anyone else interested.

Also just so you know, the press got a few things wrong as usual. Nobody has to 'sign up' to join the BSE class actions. The way it works in Ontario and Quebec is that you are in until and unless you actively decide to be out, and let us know that you want out in writing. Given that the Western cattle producers will be folded into the Ontario class if the settlement is approved, this is a very good thing indeed. All a cattle producer will have to do to be qualified to receive a cheque at the end of the day if we win is absolutely nothing. Yup, they can sit on their hands throughout the whole mess and still get a cheque at the end of the day. Absolutely no risk, no investment of time or money, and the potential of a big reward. You gotta like that. Of course, we have to win first. Seriously uphill battle considering the fellow on the other side is the government of Canada, but we are up for it.
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rkaiser said:
Some info from a pal o mine for you Manitoba; and anyone else interested.

Also just so you know, the press got a few things wrong as usual. Nobody has to 'sign up' to join the BSE class actions. The way it works in Ontario and Quebec is that you are in until and unless you actively decide to be out, and let us know that you want out in writing. Given that the Western cattle producers will be folded into the Ontario class if the settlement is approved, this is a very good thing indeed. All a cattle producer will have to do to be qualified to receive a cheque at the end of the day if we win is absolutely nothing. Yup, they can sit on their hands throughout the whole mess and still get a cheque at the end of the day. Absolutely no risk, no investment of time or money, and the potential of a big reward. You gotta like that. Of course, we have to win first. Seriously uphill battle considering the fellow on the other side is the government of Canada, but we are up for it.
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Just a thought.....I wonder if the Government will be easier to deal with since its changed hands since all this started :???:
 
That's assuming it's still the same government in the near future, depending on if the Liberals pull off a non confidence vote over the Afghanistan thing. I also wonder if the PM coming from Alberta is a good thing or a bad thing. :?

Personally I've always wondered why Ridley was included in the first place. At the time, I don't think they were doing anything outside the law. When the law changed, they followed the new rules. It would have been much simpler, and maybe quicker to just challenge the government and cut to the chase. I guess we'll see if things progress quicker now that there is only one party to address.

That's just my opinion.
 

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