Comments on: Attorneys Brag of Shutting Down Company http://www.employmentblawg.com/2007/attys-brag-of-shutting-down-co/ Workplace News & Views, Edited by St. Louis Labor & Employment Lawyer George Lenard Sun, 28 Feb 2010 14:06:03 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.1 hourly 1 By: Charles A. Greenwood http://www.employmentblawg.com/2007/attys-brag-of-shutting-down-co/comment-page-1/#comment-42429 Charles A. Greenwood Thu, 16 Jul 2009 15:45:35 +0000 http://www.employmentblawg.com/2007/attys-brag-of-shutting-down-co/#comment-42429 Just to comment on this issue from a person who was affected by the lax of management who had the responsiblity to prevent the incident. From about June of '07 to Aug. I brought these delicious 1/2lb. burgers on a regular basises,from what I thought was repetable supermarket Jewels(they stayed on sale), I never eat any forms of meat unless they are fully cooked. Today after almost (2)yrs. of being affected by this strain of ecoli my life has changed drastically. I still take medication that makes me sleepy and tired. I have (6)six kids who depend on me in a state that was promoted by the negligence of management at Topps. Just to comment on this issue from a person who was affected by the lax of management who had the responsiblity to prevent the incident. From about June of ‘07 to Aug. I brought these delicious 1/2lb. burgers on a regular basises,from what I thought was repetable supermarket Jewels(they stayed on sale), I never eat any forms of meat unless they are fully cooked.
Today after almost (2)yrs. of being affected by this strain of ecoli my life has changed drastically. I still take medication that makes me sleepy and tired. I have (6)six kids who depend on me in a state that was promoted by the negligence of management at Topps.

]]> By: lawyer » Attorneys Brag of Shutting Down Company http://www.employmentblawg.com/2007/attys-brag-of-shutting-down-co/comment-page-1/#comment-38997 lawyer » Attorneys Brag of Shutting Down Company Thu, 11 Oct 2007 17:16:03 +0000 http://www.employmentblawg.com/2007/attys-brag-of-shutting-down-co/#comment-38997 [...] Read the rest of this great post here [...] [...] Read the rest of this great post here [...]

]]> By: Colin Kingsbury http://www.employmentblawg.com/2007/attys-brag-of-shutting-down-co/comment-page-1/#comment-38996 Colin Kingsbury Thu, 11 Oct 2007 17:11:55 +0000 http://www.employmentblawg.com/2007/attys-brag-of-shutting-down-co/#comment-38996 Sad story, but isn't this a little like the way every third-rate terrorist organization claims credit when Abu Nidal or OBL pulled off a big hit? Depending on their financial condition going in, Topps might have been dead from the direct costs of the recall before the first suit was filed. I can't imagine that the margins in ground beef are particularly high, and recalling 21 million pounds of anything has to be awfully expensive. This case does raise an interesting question though of whether the plaintiff's bar actually made the choice to bankrupt and close the company more likely. First, while a recall like this would likely have meant that Topps would become a poster child for safety, many customers wouldn't touch them with a ten-foot pole for years to come, knowing that if it happened again, their liability could have been much higher. Second, imagine that you're one of the principal owners, and you've got a decent chunk of your net worth outside of your ownership of the company. You know that you are going to spend the next 3-5 years digging out from under this mess, and as bad as it looks now, it might get worse before it's over. You're probably not going to make a lot of money and it's definitely not going to be much fun. Perhaps you look at the situation and say, you know, we really don't need to recall 21m pounds of product, but if we did, it would wipe the company out, and ya know what Bob, I'm ready to move onto something else. My understanding in a case like this is that attaching liability to the officers personally would be a much higher hill to climb, so this might be a very clean way to stage an orderly retreat. After all, it was all done in an abundance of caution. Sad story, but isn’t this a little like the way every third-rate terrorist organization claims credit when Abu Nidal or OBL pulled off a big hit? Depending on their financial condition going in, Topps might have been dead from the direct costs of the recall before the first suit was filed.

I can’t imagine that the margins in ground beef are particularly high, and recalling 21 million pounds of anything has to be awfully expensive.

This case does raise an interesting question though of whether the plaintiff’s bar actually made the choice to bankrupt and close the company more likely. First, while a recall like this would likely have meant that Topps would become a poster child for safety, many customers wouldn’t touch them with a ten-foot pole for years to come, knowing that if it happened again, their liability could have been much higher.

Second, imagine that you’re one of the principal owners, and you’ve got a decent chunk of your net worth outside of your ownership of the company. You know that you are going to spend the next 3-5 years digging out from under this mess, and as bad as it looks now, it might get worse before it’s over. You’re probably not going to make a lot of money and it’s definitely not going to be much fun.

Perhaps you look at the situation and say, you know, we really don’t need to recall 21m pounds of product, but if we did, it would wipe the company out, and ya know what Bob, I’m ready to move onto something else. My understanding in a case like this is that attaching liability to the officers personally would be a much higher hill to climb, so this might be a very clean way to stage an orderly retreat. After all, it was all done in an abundance of caution.

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