A judge in South Dakota has cleared the way to trial of a lawsuit claiming ABC News “pink slime” coverage caused $1.9 billion worth of damage to the business of Beef Products Inc., which makes the meat product tagged with the term.

Judge Cheryle Gering threw out defamation claims against anchor Diane Sawyer but left standing accusations against ABC News and multiple Emmy award-winning journalist, Jim Avila.

Judge Gering, in rejecting ABC’s bid to have the case dismissed, said a jury could find the network was pursuing “a negative spin” on the story before conducting any research and that Mr. Avilla had an anti-meat-industry agenda.

“Looking at the evidence in a light most favorable to the plaintiffs, a jury could determine that there is clear and convincing evidence that ABC Broadcasting and Mr. Avila were reckless,” the judge said, and that “they engaged in purposeful avoidance of the truth.”

Five years in the making, the case threatens ABC News with punishing damages over its coverage of lean, finely textured beef, or LFTB, a component of about 70% of the ground beef found on supermarket shelves in 2012, when the stories ran.