THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, January 7, 1997 TAG: 9701070260
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B2 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY ESTES THOMPSON, ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: GREENSBORO LENGTH: 72 lines
ABC Inc. uses hidden camera investigations to boost ratings and profits, a Food Lion lawyer told jurors Monday as the punitive damage phase opened in a lawsuit against the network.
The six-man, six-woman jury last month found that ABC employees committed fraud and trespass, and were disloyal, when they worked as undercover reporters at Food Lion grocery stores.
ABC's ``PrimeTime Live'' program aired a show in 1992 questioning Food Lion's food handling practices, accusing the Salisbury-based grocery chain of selling out-of-date meat and rat-gnawed cheese.
Food Lion did not challenge the accuracy of the broadcast in the lawsuit, but it was awarded $1,402 in actual damages last Monday for fraud and trespassing.
Jurors later found that ABC's undercover work amounted to unfair and deceptive trade practices and allowed the judge to increase the actual damages to as much as $1,500.
The damage phase now being heard by the jury is for money to punish ABC for its actions. Food Lion has contended it lost between $1.7 billion and $2.5 billion in stock value and lost sales after the broadcast.
``ABC used programs such as this to boost its ratings, raise its advertising revenues and increase its profits,'' said Food Lion attorney Tim Barber. ``ABC learned early on that hidden camera stories were great for ratings.''
Food Lion attorney Mike Mueller reeled off the salaries that ABC employees involved in the broadcast received before and after the program.
Lynne Dale, one of two producers who went undercover, was making $70,100 when the show was being prepared. Her salary increased to $90,000 in December 1992 and to $100,000 after Food Lion sued ABC in 1993.
Susan Barnett, the other undercover producer, saw her salary increase from $49,000 to $70,000 just one day after she was named in the lawsuit.
The former executive producer of the show, Richard Kaplan, earned about $550,000 before the broadcast, Mueller said. By the time the lawsuit was filed, his pay had been increased to $700,000.
Meanwhile, Ira Rosen, a producer who suggested the undercover investigation, saw his pay increase from $175,000 to $215,000 between 1992 and the end of 1993.
Outside the presence of the jury, Mueller told the judge that the salary information helped support Food Lion's contention of motive and bias.
``Just as Ms. Dale received a significant salary increase as a result of this show, Ms. Barnett was rewarded,'' he said.
ABC attorney Bill Jeffress said there was no factual basis to suggest that Barnett's salary increase was tied to the fact that she was sued.
Earlier, Jeffress told the jurors that reporters can't always get the truth by being honest about who they are. He also warned jurors that they would be asked to punish ABC with a large amount of money.
``Let's talk about dollar signs,'' Jeffress said. ``They're going to ask you for hundreds of thousands, even millions of dollars, not to compensate Food Lion for any injuries but to punish ABC.
``. . . You decided it was wrong. You must now decide whether it was reprehensible.''
Before the jury entered the courtroom, ABC lawyer Kate Pringle said a chart prepared by Food Lion suggested damage awards ranging from $38 million to $1.8 billion. U.S. District Judge Carlton Tilley said the chart could not be shown to the jury.
Tilley has told jurors to assume that the broadcast was true.
The first three witnesses in the punitive damage phase of the trial were ABC employees who testified on videotape presented by Food Lion. One of the videotaped witnesses was Barnett, who told about an undercover probe of Midwest meat packers that aired in April 1992.
ABC spokeswoman Eileen Murphy said in an interview that the program caused the U.S. Department of Agriculture to change the way it handled meat inspections.
KEYWORDS: FOOD LION LAWSUIT