A nonprofit lost its legal battle against Case Farms in Â鶹´«Ã½. The North Carolina Court of Appeals has upheld a decision from a lower court to dismiss a lawsuit filed by the nonprofit.
Legal Impact for Chickens filed suit against Case Farms in May 2023 regarding Case Farms' treatment of chickens.
The Case Farms processing plant on West Fleming Drive in Â鶹´«Ã½.
The case was dismissed by Judge Wesley W. Barkley in Burke County District Court on Dec. 15, 2023. Legal Impact for Chickens appealed the decision, but the appeal was denied Wednesday, May 21.
Legal Impact for Chickens sued Case Farms for what it calls gross mismanagement and cruelty toward newborn chicks in its hatching and slaughtering process. The nonprofit claimed the company violates industry standards and North Carolina law. The lawsuit described claims of how chickens at the company’s Â鶹´«Ã½ location are treated and claims Case Farms also operates faulty equipment.
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Case Farms LLC, Case Foods Inc. and Case Farms Processing Inc. were the defendants in the case.
The lawsuit was dismissed after the judge granted Case Farm’s motion to dismiss because the allegations did not violate law. The Court of Appeals decisions said the appeals court's role was to decide whether the trial court erred in granting the motion, and found the decision was correct.
The decision from the Court of Appeals said the nonprofit did not allege that Case Farm’s hatching and slaughtering operation as a whole was illegal or otherwise prohibited by law, and that Case Farms operation as a whole was lawful and exempt from state law about animal treatment.
The Court of Appeals said Legal Impact for Chickens asserted "the trial court improperly considered questions of fact and mixed questions of law and fact. It also asserted the company was not exempt from suit under the state’s Protection of Animals Act because its individual systems and processes are either unlawful or not conducted for the purpose of producing poultry or food for human or animal consumption."
The appeals court said that the animal protect law does not apply to “lawful activities conducted ... for purposes of production of ... poultry [or] lawful activities conducted for the primary purpose of providing food for human or animal consumption."
The order upholding the lower court’s decision said the nonprofit sought to narrow the court’s focus from the operation as a whole to the individual steps in Case Farm’s production process and the legality and purpose of those processes. Case Farms argued its entire operation should be exempt.
The Court of Appeals agreed.
Legal Impact for Chickens said on its Facebook page after the decision that its complaint laid out allegations of newborn chicks smashed to death by faulty machinery and larger birds boiled alive.
“Legal Impact for Chickens is now considering next steps,†the post said. “One thing is for sure: We’ll never stop fighting for birds.â€
