The
class-action lawsuit filed after consumers were sickened by E. coli in beef
from the XL Foods Inc. plant in Brooks, Alta., has been settled for $4 million,
lawyers say.
The
deal will go to court for approval, says Calgary lawyer Clint Docken.
XL Foods recalled more than
1.8 million kilograms of beef in Canada and the United States in 2012.
The plant in Brooks, Alta.,
was sold to JBS Canada in 2013.
Docken said the actual
number of claimants won't be known until the fall, but he noted that the
majority are in Alberta and Ontario. Some in the United States.
Payments could range from
hundreds to tens of thousands of dollars, he said.
The settlement has a number
of components, the lawyer explained. There is to be compensation for provincial
health providers to cover their costs in dealing with injuries associated with
the tainted meat. There is also money available for consumers who were forced
to throw away meat after the extensive recall.
But the majority of the
settlement is to go to those who became ill after eating the meat.
