Disney discloses $177M charge in wake of BPI settlement
DAKOTA DUNES | ABC's parent company has filed a regulatory report listing a $177 million litigation settlement for the quarter that ended days after the network settled its defamation lawsuit with Beef Products Inc.
The report, filed by Walt Disney Co. with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, does not specifically mention that the settlement is related to the BPI case, but it was the only settlement Disney disclosed in its quarterly earnings report for the three-month period ended June 30, two days after the BPI settlement was reached
The $177 million charge is "the net of committed insurance recoveries," the report, released Tuesday night, said, meaning that Disney's insurance carriers paid an additional amount of the settlement.
While BPI cannot disclose the settlement amount because of a confidentiality agreement, Dan Webb, a Chicago attorney who led the legal team that represented BPI, said the figure listed in the Disney disclosure does not represent the settlement total.
"As Disney disclosed, $177 million is not the total settlement amount. Based on Disney's disclosure, it appears that Disney is funding $177 million of the settlement, and its insurers are paying the rest," Webb said in a statement emailed to the Journal.HT the story was out there: Cattle Network
Disney continues to look for other insurers to cover the settlement costs. "The company is pursuing additional insurance coverage for this matter," Disney said in the report....MORE
The SC Journal's reporting linked in June's "ABC-TV Settles $1.9 Billion "Pink Slime" Defamation Lawsuit" was probably the best coverage of the story.
