Decision Coming on Tobacco Proceeds

Source from:  tfq.itsmyiq.com Aug 21, 2007 08/22/2007

A long-running lawsuit against the Lexington, Kentucky -based Burley Tobacco Growers Cooperative is moving toward a final court order. The story was reported in the Lexington newspaper. Fayette Circuit Judge Pamela Goodwine ruled in the suit last March that the cooperative must give its member farmers proceeds from sales of surplus tobacco the co-op received in the 2004 buyout that ended the federal tobacco support program. Estimates of the total amount involved range up to almost $120 million, although individual farmers would receive only a few hundred dollars each. The suit was filed in 2003. Goodwine has yet to enter a final order detailing disbursal of the money, but representatives on both sides in the case say they expect an order within about two months. The co-op board then would have an opportunity to appeal. That seems a virtual certainty, although co-op President Roger Quarles said earlier this week that the board won't decide until it sees Goodwine's final ruling. Eight Central Kentucky farmers sued the cooperative in Fayette District Court at the end of 2003, asking that the co-op be required to give members money it allegedly had withheld. The suit, later switched to circuit court, now is nearing a climax as both sides await Judge Goodwine's final order. Lawyers Brent Caldwell and Robert Maclin III, who represent the plaintiffs, said the co-op could be required to pay out between $80 million and $116 million, depending on whether the court rules that the plaintiffs are entitled to a $36 million tax refund as well as $80 million from tobacco sales. According to the attorneys, individual farmers could expect to get $400 to $600 each. The amount might seem small, but the money would have a strong impact in rural farming communities, Caldwell predicts. "Those dollars are going to turn over a lot," he said. Enditem