ST. LOUIS - Judge Catherine D. Perry of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri has amended her decision regarding settlement amounts owed to Stearns National Bank and Amegy Bank National Association in Texana Mill Rice's lawsuit against Bayer CropScience over genetically modified rice.
The revised decision was filed on March 20. The case was on remand from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit.
Texana and Bayer settled the case in September 2012, with Bayer agreeing to pay $2.1 million in exchange for Texana’s agreement to release its tort claims of lost profits and damage to its equipment and facilities totaling $13.9 million.
The court concurred that all of Texana's claims against Bayer were "included in the Settlement Agreement and Release, including its claim for damage to property, equipment, and machinery," and awarded the company a settlement for 39.7 percent of all damages.
Stearns and Amegy were owed proceeds by Texana of over $8 million at the time the settlement was reached. The banks argued that they were entitled to proceeds of the net settlement because of their involvement with the company, according to background information in the order.
The court ordered Stearns to receive 78.1 percent of the net settlement and Amegy to recoup the remainder.
Stearns received $765,267.75 of the $977,269.90 net settlement, while $212,002.15 went to Amegy.
Perry wrote in her revised order that the clerk of court informed her that "the principal sum on deposit in the Court’s registry is actually $977.270.84, which is 94 cents more than the $977,269.90," to account for accrued interest.
She further updated the amounts each bank will receive and ordered that “Amegy Bank shall recover the remainder of the Net Settlement in the Court’s registry – that is, $212,003.09 – as and for its interest in the commercial tort claim for lost profits, contracts, and goodwill. I will, therefore, order the Clerk to disburse $212,003.09 to Amegy Bank from the Court’s registry.”