v. Koch Refining Company, United States Court of Appeals, Eighth Circuit ruling, May 17, 2001.
On April 8, 1997, Steve David: Faragher, interviews by author, 2015; Faragher, transcript of interview by MPCA investigators, December 19, 1997, 147–51.
David would later say that he hid the fact: David, transcript of interview by MPCA investigators, November 19, 1997, 73–79.
This was how Koch Industries wanted it: Tromberg, interviews by author, 2015.
On May 12, Faragher called Kriens: Faragher, interviews by author, 2015; Faragher, transcript of interview by MPCA investigators, December 19, 1997.
Faragher kept her mouth shut at work: Faragher, interviews by author, 2015; Faragher, transcript of interview by MPCA investigators, December 19, 1997; Lien, “Former Koch Employee Says”; Lien, “Koch Casts Doubt.”
On March 18, 1998, Faragher was home: Faragher, interviews by author, 2015; copies of business cards, John Bonhage and Maureen O’Mara.
In 1998, the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency fined Koch Industries: “Koch Refinery Hit with Fines,” Oil & Gas Journal, October 11, 1999; United States of America and the State of Minnesota v. Koch Petroleum Group, Consent Decree.
Koch did not retaliate against Faragher by firing her: Faragher, interviews by author, 2015; Lien, “Former Koch Employee Says.”
Terry Stormoen, the other shift worker: Interview attempt with Stormoen by author, 2015.
Not everyone did so poorly: Online job descriptions, résumés, Koch Industries employee listings.
The illegal activity at Pine Bend was not an isolated incident: Loder and Evans, “The Secret Sins of Koch Industries.”
CHAPTER 9: OFF THE RAILS
Koch Industries executives gathered . . . in Wichita: Watson, Hall, interviews by author, 2013–16; John Pitinger, Participant Profile, Aspen Institute, Communications and Society Program; “Innovation: Everyone’s Job,” Discovery: The Quarterly Newsletter of Koch Companies, October 2016.
Dean Watson joined . . . twenty-two years old: Watson, interviews by author, 2016.
Watson wasn’t shy about challenging the people around him: Watson, Hall, interviews by author, 2013–16.
Koch’s fertilizer plant was basically an oil refinery: Joe Hise, former fertilizer plant manager in Enid, Oklahoma, interviews by author, 2013; insight into the American food system derives in part from the author’s previous reporting as national agribusiness reporter for the Associated Press between 2008 and 2012.
fertilizer business itself was a platform for growth: Watson, Packebush, interviews by author, 2013–16; Bruce Upbin and Brandon Copple, “Creative Destruction 101,” profile of Koch Industries and Koch Agriculture, Forbes, December 14, 1998.
Koch Agriculture first branched out into the beef business: Watson, Perry Owens (feedlot manager), interviews by author, 2016.
If the motivations . . . the tactics Bill employed were even darker: Douglas Frantz, “Journalists, or Detectives? Depends on Who’s Asking,” New York Times, July 28, 1999; Burrough, “Wild Bill Koch.”
The Wall Street Journal published a front-page story: Robert Tomsho, “Blood Feud: Koch Family Is Roiled by Sibling Squabbling over Its Oil Empire,” Wall Street Journal, August 9, 1989.
During the late 1990s, Charles Koch found himself consumed: Hall, interviews by author, 2013–14; O’Reilly and De Llosa, “The Curse.”
There was . . . dedicated to expanding the company: Hall, Markel, interviews by author, 2013–14.
The largest animal feed maker in America: Watson, Hall, interviews by author, 2013–16; Traci Carl, “Koch Agriculture Buys Purina Mills,” Associated Press, January 13, 1998.
The pig industry was emblematic of this shift: Christopher Leonard, The Meat Racket: The Secret Takeover of America’s Food Business (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2014), 253–69.
The company operated fifty-eight giant feed mills: Purina Mills, 10-K filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Fiscal Year Ended December 31, 1996.
But 1996 was a down year for Purina Mills: Ibid.
This didn’t mean . . . excited about selling it: Arnie Sumner, interviews by author, 2016.
Koch’s ambitions for Purina were vast: Sumner, Watson, Hall, interviews by author, 2016.
Koch ended up borrowing . . . two massive sources of debt: Purina Mills, SEC Filing, form 10-12G, section 2, “Financial Restructuring Developments,” describing indebtedness as of March 31, 1998, and March 23, 2000.
One of Dean Watson’s first and most important jobs: Sumner, Watson, interviews by author, 2016.
Things started to go south . . . government policy: Watson, Hall, interviews by author, 2016; E. C. Pasour Jr. and Randal R. Rucker, Plowshares and Pork Barrels: The Political Economy of Agriculture (Oakland, CA: Independent Institute, 2005).
Before the deal . . . warned about Purina’s pig business: Watson, interviews by author, 2016.
In 1998, the US hog market experienced a shock: Leonard, Meat Racket, 329–33.
Purina Mills should have been insulated: Watson, Hall, interviews by author, 2016; Purina Mills, SEC Filing, form 10-12G, “Management Discussion and Analysis,” March 23, 2000.
Watson was named CEO of Purina Mills: Watson, interviews by author, 2016; “Purina Mills Names New CEO,” PR Newswire, December