UNITED STATES-TYSON FOODS Inc.
A request by Oklahoma’s attorney general to depose Tyson Foods Inc.’s chairman in a federal court case over poultry litter pollution is being fought against by the company, according to The Associated Press.
The processor filed a motion earlier in April for a protective order in attempts to keep company chairman John H. Tyson from being deposed. Tyson is the grandson of company founder John W. Tyson, who died in 1967.
Whether Tyson should be deposed for the case has not been ruled by the judge, but company spokesman Gary Mickelson called the state’s request "simply harassment and totally unnecessary."
"We have already been giving the attorney general access to the information and company representatives directly involved in the issues relating to this case," Mr. Mickelson said.
Thirteen Arkansas companies including Tyson are being sued by Attorney General Drew Edmondson for allegedly polluting the Illinois River watershed with bird waste, which he charged could pose a danger to human health. A trial is expected to begin in September.
"Since he ran the company for so many years, we are interested in talking to Mr. Tyson about the company’s operation," said Charlie Price, spokesman for the attorney general.
Company attorneys argued in their motion for a protective order that Oklahoma has never sought to depose Mr. Tyson in the three-and-a-half years since the case was filed. It also claims the state scheduled the deposition for Mr. Tyson only after Tyson Foods sought to depose Mr. Edmondson regarding his allegations that a deadly E. coli outbreak in the state last year could have been caused by poultry litter contamination.
Industry has repeatedly denied those allegations, and the court later rejected Tyson’s request to question Mr. Edmondson.
"This tit-for-tat deposition practice is contrary to this court’s rulings," Tyson’s attorneys claimed in their brief. "Plaintiff’s attempt to match deposition for deposition is unnecessary and would waste the parties’ resources at a critical time."
Oklahoma has claimed in court records that it wants to depose Mr. Tyson because one relevant witness the company provided for "was either ill-prepared or generally unknowledgeable on pertinent topics."
Companies named in Mr. Edmondson’s lawsuit include Tyson, Tyson Poultry Inc., Tyson Chicken Inc., Cobb-Vantress Inc., Cal-Maine Foods Inc., Cargill Inc., Cargill Turkey Production L.L.C., George’s Inc., George’s Farms Inc., Peterson Farms Inc., Simmons Foods Inc., Cal-Maine Farms Inc. and Willow Brook Foods Inc.