Personal Injury Law

PCA President Refuses to testify to Congress & is MORE concerned with Money

By Jessica Smagacz

The latest news on the Peanut Corporation of America (PCA) where the national outbreak of salmonella started is that PCA’s president, Stewart Parnell refused to testify in front of Congress, reports the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Interesting information came out of the documents and testimony presented at the congressional subcommittee hearing this past Wednesday: “Peanut Corp. of America knew of salmonella contamination within its Blakely plant even while federal officials were tracking the national salmonella outbreak, but apparently put profits ahead of public safety.” Not surprisingly, this company and its president put PROFITS before PEOPLE. Just as I posted about yesterday, PCA still claims they did nothing wrong.

The peanut butter scandal is just getting worse. Jane Akre mentions in her post: Peanut Corp. President Refuses to Testify to Lawmakers, PCA president was called before the House Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigation “to explain internal company e-mails disclosing that he ordered salmonella tainted products shipped while awaiting the results of tests, and even after he had positive results for salmonella.” Stewart Parnell did not even go before the committee and neither did Sammy Lightsey, the plant manager. They invoked their right Fifth Amendment right.

If they would have attended the hearing, they would have heard victims sharing their stories of dead loved ones that were killed by the salmonella. This is the salmonella that was linked to PCA.

If this wasn’t enough, both Stewart Parnell and Sammy Lightsey “refused to answer any questions from committee members—including whether they would eat any of their own products, which one congressman showed off in a plastic container wrapped with yellow caution tape.”

So what did these e-mails say anyway?

Lightsey wrote to Parnell about the positive salmonella tests on PCA products. Parnell gave Lightsey instructions “nonetheless [to] ‘turn them loose’ after getting a negative test result from another testing company.”

In another e-mail, “Parnell expressed his concerns over losing ‘$$$$$$’ due to delays in shipment and costs of testing.”

The PCA president also accused the media of “looking for a news story where there currently isn’t one.”

Hello?!!! 9 people have now been killed and 600 hundred have been sickened from the salmonella confirmed at PCA!

In another e-mail to the FDA, Parnell pleaded with the agency to let PCA stay in business. This was on January 19th.

I am still experiencing outrage. Profits over people?

Full post as published by Atlanta Personal Injury Lawyer on February 11, 2009 (boomark / email).