Grocery Chain Awarded $1,402 in ABC Fraud Judgment

A federal jury that found ABC television guilty of fraud in an undercover story about the Food Lion grocery chain granted the company $1,402 in actual damages Monday.

A decision on punitive damages will come after Jan. 1.

The ABC story raised questions about meat handling and other sanitation practices.

Food Lion’s lawsuit never challenged the story’s accuracy. It focused instead on how ABC producers managed to get jobs with the company and used spy cameras while working at Food Lion stores.

Before Christmas, the jury ruled that the program’s producers committed fraud and trespassed when they lied on their resumes to get jobs at Food Lion stores.

U.S. District Judge Carlton Tilley said that when Food Lion seeks punitive damages, it may not present testimony that some incidents of unsanitary conditions may have been staged. Food Lion has not said how much it is seeking in punitive damages.

Food Lion attorneys argued that the ABC producers should have cleaned up dirty equipment or prevented sales of outdated food.

Food Lion had sought $2,432.35 in actual damages, the wages paid the two producers. That sum also included the company’s costs to train them.

Jurors did not explain why they awarded only $1,402.