Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, July 14, 1995 TAG: 9507150017
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: A-9 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. LENGTH: Short
In addition to the rights to about 50 hours of videotape, Food Lion is seeking $100 million in damages, according to the lawsuit filed this week in U.S. District Court.
Terri Everett, a spokeswoman for ABC News in New York, said the company had not seen the lawsuit and had no comment.
The tapes were made by two ABC reporters who were hired to work in the meat department.
W. Andrew Copenhaver, an attorney for Food Lion, said the tapes were made fraudulently on Food Lion premises by its employees and therefore are the property of the grocery chain.
The ``PrimeTime Live'' report, which aired in 1992, accused the supermarket of unsanitary practices, including selling salads weeks after their expiration dates, and selling spoiled meat treated with bleach and cheese that had been gnawed on by rats.
About five minutes of the tapes were broadcast. The tapes showed workers repackaging meat that had exceeded its ``sell-by'' dates.
Food Lion denied the charges and sued ABC for $30 million in 1994, claiming the network violated federal racketeering laws by fraudulently gaining employment with Food Lion for the two reporters.
An eight-month U.S. Food and Drug Administration investigation in 1993-94 gave the company an ``excellent'' rating in regard to its food-handling policy.
The North Carolina supermarket chain's business dropped sharply following the report.
by CNB