Fired Beef Worker Sues ABC, Jamie Oliver Over 'Pink Slime'

A former Beef Products Inc. employee has filed a lawsuit against ABC News, Diane Sawyer and Jim Avila, Jamie Oliver, and even food blogger Bettina Siegel of The Lunch Tray.

Bruce Smith, who was formerly Beef Products, Inc.'s senior counsel and director of Environmental, Health & Safety, has filed a complaint in the Dakota Country District Court in Nebraska, asking for $70,000 in damages.

According to a statement, Smith believes ABC and "its employees were unfairly and unnecessarily maligned and accused of producing a food product that did not exist, a product that critics unfairly labeled 'pink slime.'"

Smith was one of the 750 people laid off after Beef Products, Inc. closed three plants and laid off workers at the corporate headquarters.

Siegel, in the meantime, has taken to her blog to speak on the issue, saying "I'm confident the First Amendment protects the rights of all Americans, including bloggers like myself, against meritless attempts at censorship like this one. I will vigorously defend my right, and the rights of all of us, to speak out on matters of public importance and to petition the federal government, as I did through Change.org, to change any policy with which we disagree."