OK Foods denied appeal of $14.5 million verdict

Fort Smith-based OK Foods was denied by the U.S. Supreme Court a review of a $14.5 million settlement against the company.

The Court ruled Monday (May 2) and did not provide a comment on the decision. The report of the decision first came from The Meating Place, a Chicago-based publication covering the industry.

The judgment results from a class-action lawsuit on behalf of 300 poultry farmers in eastern Oklahoma. The farmers, who had contracted with OK Foods to raise chickens, alleged that OK officials used their status as the only buyer in the area to manipulate in its favor what it paid to the farmers.

The case was first heard in 2008, with the farmers initially receiving a jury verdict of $21.1 million. The verdict was later reduced to $14.5 million by a district judge.

“We’re very disappointed in the outcome,” Fort Smith attorney Don Smith, speaking on behalf of OK Foods, said Tuesday.

Smith said he believed the Supreme Court decision means there are “no further appeals or reconsiderations” for OK Foods to pursue in the case.

According to Smith, the company previously set aside resources to pay the judgment. When the $14.5 million verdict was made by the district judge, OK Foods posted collateral with the court in order to pursue the appeals process.

OK Industries, a regional poultry processing company, employs about 5,000 in western Arkansas and eastern Oklahoma. The company operates large processing plants in Fort Smith and Heavener, Okla.