Federal Judge Denies Most Relief Sought by ConAgra After Trial on Grain Explosion

EAST ST. LOUIS, Ill. — A federal judge has reduced punitive damages awarded to one plaintiff from $33.3 million to $26.2 million but otherwise denied the relief sought by ConAgra Foods Inc. (NYSE: CAG) following a $181 million verdict in favor of three victims of a 2010 grain bin explosion.

Judge Michael J. Reagan, who presided over a month-long trial in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois a year ago, concluded that despite ConAgra’s arguments to the contrary, the firm owed a duty to two subcontractor’s workers hired to salvage pellets in a grain storage …