Defective fertilizer found at fault in business losses
Canada: Blueberry farmer awarded $36-million for defective fertiliser
His plants started to yellow and their growth became stunted. After a while the disfigured plants began to die.
He lost over 4 million plants.
All of this came about after Jag's business, JRT nurseries, had switched to a new fertiliser - Sun Gro Horticulture's Multicote 15-9-12. When the new fertiliser was applied again the following year - the cause of the unusual symptoms at that stage still being a mystery - more dead plants was the result.
Last week, after a 4 year long legal battle, Aujla was awarded $36 million in damages at Oregon state court.
The award is believed to be one of the largest product liability awards to a Canadian company, said White Rock lawyer Joseph Prodor, who represents Aujla.
The damages were compensation for the losses of the dead plants are for predicted future earnings.
Prodor said that Aujla's reputation had been damaged along with his stock.
"It wasn't anything he did. He'd been doing it for years with great success, and unfortunately this horrible disaster happened," Prodor said Thursday from Portland, Ore.
It's not over yet, however, as Prodor expects the fertiliser companies involved to appeal the decision, which will take another two years.
The Multicote 15-9-12 fertilizer JRT Nurseries switched to in 2007 was designed by Sun Gro Horticulture, which has U.S. and Canadian operations. The fertilizer was mixed by Wilbur-Ellis Company, head quartered in California.
The farmers argued the fertilizer - which they learned included a micro-nutrient ingredient not designed to be used in horticulture and potting soil - was responsible for damaging the plants.
The farmer's legal team argued that the produce had been rushed to market without.
The jury agreed, finding that Multi-cote 15-9-12 was "in a defective condition that was unreasonably dangerous to [the] plaintiff's plants when it left Sun Gro's control."
It also found the fertilizer was in a "defective" condition when it left Wilbur-Ellis's control.
The jury awarded JRT Nurseries nearly $12 million for direct economic losses from the death of the plants and more than $22 million for loss of customers. Another $5 million was awarded in interest.
The total was reduced by 10 per cent because the jury found JRT partly responsible for the damages for not exercising some care to avoid increasing the damages.
The jury found Sun Gro responsible for the majority of damages, about $30 million, with Wilbur-Ellis responsible for the rest.
Sun Gro Horticulture would not say Thursday whether it would appeal. The company said it was disappointed by the decision.
"We're going to take some time to digest it before we make any decision about what we intend to do next," said Sun Gro spokesman Derek Fee from Toronto.
Wilbur-Ellis lawyer Everett Jack said the company was also disappointed by the decision.
He said Wilbur-Ellis had not yet made a decision whether to appeal.
Source: www.vancouversun.com
