Lawyers
for the Chinese who own Smithfield Foods are seeking a gag order so reporters
and others involved in a court case can never mention the Chinese connection.
The
lawsuit has been filed by neighbours in North Carolina who can’t stand the
stench from Smithfield’s hog farms, the ones it bought from Murphy-Brown.
WH Group
is fighting dozens of lawsuits complaining about the ill effects of manure
lagoons and how the problem will be exacerbated by the company’s potential
expansion of such facilities.
WH Group
not only doesn’t want plaintiffs to utter its name, but it also wants no
mention of China or its huge demand for pork exports to that country, according
to court documents filed in the Eastern District of North Carolina federal
court.
WH Group
acquired Smithfield Foods, then the world’s largest pork producer, in September
2013 with a strategy that included exporting Smithfield pork back to China.
“The
allegations … concerning the Communist Party, the Chinese government, Chinese
corporations, and Chinese demand for and purchases of pork are simply
irrelevant to plaintiffs’ claims of farming-related temporary nuisance in
eastern North Carolina,” the lawyers say.
“Moreover,
the allegations are scandalous, designed to inflame the jury and the public,
and injurious to Murphy-Brown’s reputation,” the company’s attorneys said in a
motion to strike.
So much for free speech and vigorous debate!
