Farmers Suing Over Universal Contracts

Source from:  Tobacco Reporter 03/31/2011

Several Kentucky farmers have filed a class-action lawsuit against Universal Leaf North America (ULNA), alleging that the tobacco merchant failed to honor contracts to purchase Burley from them at the end of the 2010 crop year, according to a story by Shawntaye Hopkins for the Lexington Herald-Leader. The lawsuit, which was filed last week in Harrison Circuit Court, claims hundreds of farmers have lost millions of dollars. According to the lawsuit, ULNA "unilaterally decided to forgo the inspection process and almost universally rejected the tobacco that it had contracted tobacco producers to deliver to the Cynthiana, Kentucky, receiving station". Enditem