SIOUX FALLS, SD – A former employee of Beef Products, Inc. is suing ABC News, celebrity chef Jamie Oliver and a food blogger, charging their use of the term ‘pink slime’ to describe lean finely textured beef cost him his job.

Bruce Smith, former BPI Environmental Health and Safety Officer, is among the 1,000 BPI employees who was laid off when the company closed three of its four processing plants and eliminated corporate positions at the company’s headquarters. Smith filed a civil suit in Dakota County District Court in Nebraska seeking $70,000 in damages.

Smith wrote a book about his experiences called “Pink Slime Ate My Job”.

In September, BPI filed a defamation lawsuit against ABC News. The company is seeking more than $1 billion in damages in that case. Lawyers for ABC News filed court papers asking to transfer the lawsuit to a federal court in South Dakota. In November, BPI's attorneys requested that a federal judge return the lawsuit to state court. They also filed a motion opposing ABC's request to drop the case.