Isidro Fernandez worked at Tyson Foods at their plant in Waterloo, IA. Tragically, Fernandez died in April 2020 due to complications from COVID-19. His family has filed a wrongful death lawsuit on the grounds that the approach of Tyson Foods to the coronavirus was fraught with “wanton disregard for workplace safety”.
The allegations start with the conditions themselves. The Fernandez lawsuit says that employees not only had to work long hours in very cramped spaces, but also they weren’t provided with personal protective equipment (masks).
Furthermore, it is alleged that Tyson management pressured employees to ignore symptoms of COVID-19. The lawsuit cites manager John Casey for pressuring a supervisor on his way to get tested by saying, “We all have symptoms—you have a job to do.” Other allegations include an employee vomiting on the production line, being allowed to continue working and then brought back the next day.
Allegedly, all of this happened due to management personnel themselves avoiding the plant floor because of the coronavirus and delegating decision-making authority to lower-level supervisors who were not prepared. The consequence, the lawsuit states, is that truck drivers and other non-Tyson employees entered the plant without being tested.
Pressure worked in the opposite direction as well. Tyson paid out $500 in bonuses to those who kept working and the lawsuit says this served to incentivize sick employees to come to work.
Tyson management is said to have played the patriotism card as well, telling employees that they had a civic duty to report to work so Americans could continue to eat during the pandemic. Although, the lawsuit claims that exports to China increased sixfold while American distribution remained the same.
Despite all this, the headline allegation is the gambling. According to claims, the plant manager organized a betting pool for managers and supervisors to bet on how many employees would contract COVID-19.
All of it, according to the Fernandez family, adds up to fraudulent misrepresentation and gross negligence. The damages sought are not specified.
Tyson Foods has not filed a formal response to the lawsuit, but says it disputes the plaintiff’s overall claims. Tyson has suspended without pay the management personnel named in the allegations and hired Eric Holder, attorney general in the Obama Administration, to pursue an independent investigation.
Tyson vows that if the allegations are true, they will do whatever is necessary to eliminate the negligent behavior from the company culture.
The case was initially filed in Iowa state court. Tyson successfully petitioned to have the venue changed to federal court.
The reason, the company says, is that they remained opened during the pandemic due to an executive order by President Trump that required meat and poultry processing to keep operating. This is disputed by Public Citizen, a nonprofit organization backing the Fernandez family. In their amicus curiae brief, Public Citizen says the executive order did not require or direct Tyson to do anything.