BECKLEY - A Greenbrier County farmer claims he lost his 2009 corn crop because a Southern States Cooperative business failed to properly perform insecticide spraying services.
J. Michael Fogus filed a lawsuit on Aug. 1 in the Circuit Court of Greenbrier County against Southern States Cooperative, doing business as Greenbrier Valley Service.
Fogus claims the defendant either improperly conducted the spraying or used incorrect or defective products, leading to his crop failure. The plaintiff says he was forced to purchase feed for his dairy herd, costing him economic damage of $107,500 in economic damages, according to the brief.
He is being represented by Lewisburg attorney E. Lavoyd Morgan Jr.
On Aug. 20, the defendant removed the case to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia in Beckley.
The removal notice says Fogus is seeking $107,500, which is more than a $75,000 threshold for removal.
U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia case number 5:13-cv-22061
Greenbrier Co. farmer says Southern States cost him his crop
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