Dive Brief:
- A federal appeals court has cleared ConAgra of liability for its role in an explosion at a flour mill that badly injured three workers.
- The 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago overturned a lower court ruling and said that the Omaha-based food processor could not be held liable in connection with the 2010 event.
- ConAgra had hired a contractor, West Side Salvage, to save the wheat in a smoldering grain silo outside of St. Louis. The appeals court upheld compensatory damages against West Side.
Dive Insight:
The details of this case were quite horrific. One of the injured workers was burned on over 70% of his body, while another suffered damage to his lungs from inhaling fumes. The best possible outcome following such an incident would have been for lawyers for the companies and the workers to reach some sort of settlement, but that didn't happen. Instead, some four years later, the case is being returned to a lower court to work out indemnification issues.