Tyson plant managers bet on how many workers would contract COVID-19, Iowa lawsuit says
Tyson Foods plant managers placed bets on how many workers would contract COVID-19 at an Iowa facility where employees have died in the pandemic, a lawsuit says.
The manager of the company’s pork processing plant in Waterloo reportedly organized a “winner-take-all” cash betting pool for supervisors to wager on the number of workers who would test positive for the virus, according to the federal lawsuit. The betting pool was created in spring before the Tyson plant temporarily shut down to test employees, the lawsuit says.
The new accusation is included in an amended complaint of a wrongful death lawsuit filed by the son of Isidro Fernandez in October. Fernandez died after he was among more than 1,000 workers infected with COVID-19 at the plant, the lawsuit says. The facility employs about 2,800 people.
In a statement Thursday, Tyson Foods CEO Dean Banks responded to allegations in the lawsuit.
“We are extremely upset about the accusations involving some of the leadership at our Waterloo plant. Tyson Foods is a family company with 139,000 team members and these allegations do not represent who we are, or our core values and team behaviors,” Banks said.
The employees allegedly involved are suspended without pay amid an investigation led by a law firm headed by former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, Tyson said.
The company previously declined to comment on the litigation but issued a statement saying it’s “saddened by the loss of any Tyson team member and sympathize with their families,” the Iowa Capital Dispatch reported.
“Our top priority is the health and safety of our workers and we’ve implemented a host of protective measures at Waterloo and our other facilities that meet or exceed CDC and OSHA guidance for preventing Covid-19,” Tyson told KCCI.
The lawsuit says Tyson misrepresented the risk of COVID-19 at the facility and prioritized profits over worker safety. It also accuses the company of failing to implement protections to prevent the “uncontrolled outbreak.”
This story was originally published November 19, 2020 at 10:44 AM with the headline "Tyson plant managers bet on how many workers would contract COVID-19, Iowa lawsuit says."