Former Tyson lawyer
files suit over firing
DES MOINES, Iowa -- A former workers' compensation attorney for a Tyson Foods meatpacking division has sued the company for wrongful termination, accusing company officials of making anti-gay slurs, filing false information in workers' compensation cases, and sex and age discrimination.
Todd Beresford filed the lawsuit in state district court in Des Moines on Oct. 1 seeking damages for his June 2018 firing.
A Tyson spokesman said the company would not comment.
Beresford, who said he primarily worked on Tyson's workers' compensation cases in Iowa, claimed he was fired partly because he complained to corporate officials that the company was providing inaccurate information in workers' compensation cases to deny employees payment for on-the-job injuries.
He also claimed the company discriminated against employees on the basis of sex and age by firing four middle-age men in 2018 and replacing them with younger women. He claimed his "age and/or sex, either individually or in combination, were motivating factors" in his firing.
Tyson Fresh Meats is a meatpacking division of Tyson Foods. The company has several locations in Iowa including processing plants in Perry, Waterloo and Storm Lake.
-- The Associated Press
Beer-maker unveils
paper bottle plans
For Carlsberg, the future is a beer bottle made of paper.
The Danish brewer on Friday presented two research prototype bottles made from wood fiber and lined with a polymer barrier at the World Mayors Summit in Copenhagen. The company is also working with Coca-Cola, Absolut vodka and cosmetics giant L'Oreal on a project that aims to develop more sustainable packaging alternatives.
The world's largest consumer-goods companies are working to reduce their environmental impact amid pressure from shoppers. Nestle has unveiled paper wrapping for Yes fruit and nut bars, while Unilever pledged earlier this week to halve its use of newly made plastic by 2025.
Carlsberg has also stopped using plastic rings, commonly associated with marine pollution, to hold its six-pack aluminum cans, instead using drops of glue to bind the beers.
-- Bloomberg News
State index up 7.61,
ends week at 434.98
The Arkansas Index, a price-weighted index that tracks the largest public companies based in the state, closed Friday at 434.98, up 7.61.
All index stocks rose, led by Bank OZK at 4.83%.
The major stock indexes posted gains Friday on optimism that the U.S. and China would reach a partial trade agreement, with China making concessions on agriculture and the U.S. easing some tariffs.
The index was developed by Bloomberg News and the Democrat-Gazette with a base value of 100 as of Dec. 30, 1997.
Business on 10/12/2019