Animal rights groups that unsuccessfully sued the producer of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus will pay $15.75 million to settle the case and a separate racketeering lawsuit brought by the producer.
The agreement ends nearly 14 years of litigation between Feld Entertainment Inc. and a coalition of organizations that sued the circus over its treatment of Asian elephants. Under the terms of the settlement, Feld agreed to drop a separate racketeering lawsuit against the animal rights groups and one of the plaintiffs firms concerning their handling of the elephant litigation.
