Smithfield announced a settlement of the remaining North Carolina hog-farm nuisance cases after a federal appeals court issued a divided ruling on November 19, 2020. The Fourth Circuit upheld the jury’s finding of liability and its compensatory-damages verdict, but vacated the punitive-damages award and sent that issue back for a rehearing. The settlement amount was not disclosed.
What the lawsuits were about
The appeal, McKiver v. Murphy-Brown, LLC, No. 19-1019, arose from private-nuisance claims brought by residents living near Kinlaw Farms in Bladen County, North Carolina. Murphy-Brown, which did business as Smithfield Hog Production Division, operated the industrial-scale hog farm. Neighbors said odors, pests and noise from the operation interfered with their use and enjoyment of their homes.
The litigation was part of a broader group of federal cases brought by neighbors of Smithfield hog operations. A 2026 retrospective reported that 540 plaintiffs sued the company in federal court in 2014; the Kinlaw Farms trial was one of the cases that produced jury verdicts.
What the Fourth Circuit decided
On November 19, 2020, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit issued its published decision in McKiver. Its ruling was not a complete reversal or an unqualified affirmance:
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| Issue | Fourth Circuit’s action |
|---|---|
| Liability | Affirmed the jury’s verdict. |
| Compensatory damages | Affirmed the jury’s verdict. |
| Punitive damages | Vacated the award and remanded for a rehearing on that issue under the court’s evidentiary standards. |
In the opinion, Judge Stephanie Thacker wrote for the court that it would “affirm the jury’s verdict as to liability for compensatory and punitive damages,” while also vacating the punitive award and remanding for a rehearing. The distinction matters: the court upheld the underlying liability and compensatory verdict, but it did not leave the existing punitive-damages award in place.
In a separate concurrence, Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson III described conditions at Kinlaw Farms as “outrageous conditions” and wrote that there was “no reason to suppose” they were unique to that facility. Those phrases were his, not the majority opinion’s holding.
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How the jury awards compare with the settlement
News reports put the awards from the first five trials at almost $550 million in total. After North Carolina’s punitive-damages cap was applied, the aggregate awards were reported at about $98 million. Those figures describe jury awards and their reduction under state law—not what Smithfield paid in the later settlement.
In the Kinlaw Farms case itself, the jury awarded ten neighbors $750,000 in compensatory damages and initially set punitive damages at $50 million. The district court reduced the punitive award to $2.5 million under North Carolina law. The Fourth Circuit later vacated that punitive award and remanded for a rehearing.
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Smithfield’s settlement announcement did not disclose financial terms. Contemporaneous reports and 2026 retrospectives describe the remaining cases as resolved out of court for an undisclosed amount. The published figures for earlier verdicts cannot establish the settlement’s value, and the available reports do not show that the settlement paid those verdict amounts.
What Smithfield announced after the ruling
After the Fourth Circuit decision, Smithfield said it had resolved the remaining cases. Chief Administrative Officer Keira Lombardo said, “We have resolved these cases through a settlement that will take into account the divided decision of the court.” Retrospective reporting describes the agreement as resolving 21 remaining cases. No settlement amount was made public.
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Keep the 2019 agreement separate
Smithfield’s 2025 Form 10-K, filed March 24, 2026, describes a separate settlement agreement under which then-existing filed cases were resolved in July 2019. The filing also discusses other nuisance suits that the company has faced since. That 2019 agreement is not the settlement announced after the November 2020 appellate ruling; the two events should not be combined.
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- This model farm animal is very helpful props for model train Layout and building, train station layout ,school project model and miniature dollhouse.
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- These model cows and little people look very real.
- Scale:1:87,Suitable for HO Scale. Material: Plasic. Color:Assorted Color.
- Package included:32 well painted cows,about 8 different poses.4 well paited figures,about 2 different poses.
Sources
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, McKiver v. Murphy-Brown, LLC, No. 19-1019, November 19, 2020.
- Successful Farming, “Smithfield Settles Suits Over North Carolina Farms, After Losing Appeal,” November 20, 2020.
- Courthouse News Service, “Court Upholds Hog Verdict; Smithfield Announces Settlement,” November 20, 2020.
- North Carolina Health News, “How NC wasted the chance to fix hog pollution,” September 3, 2026.
- WUNC News / Inside Climate News, “How North Carolina Wasted the Chance To Fix Hog Pollution,” September 4, 2026.
- Smithfield Foods, Inc., 2025 Form 10-K, filed March 24, 2026.
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