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Smithfield Foods Sued by Worker’s Group for Unsafe Working Conditions, Inadequate PPE

April 28, 2020
A complaint by the Rural Community Workers Alliance alleges unsafe conditions at a Missouri plant.

A lawsuit filed by a group called the Rural Community Workers Alliance and an anonymous Smithfield Foods, Inc. employee alleges the company failed to provide adequate protective equipment for workers at their Milan, Missouri pork plant. According to the complaint, Smithfield punished workers for covering their mouths while coughing or sneezing, creating an actionable “public nuisance.” A company spokesperson said the allegations are “without factual or legal merit.”

The lawsuit is the latest headache for the Virginia-based meat processor which has been owned by Chinese company WH Group since 2013. The largest pork producer in the world, Smithfield had to close its huge Sioux Falls, South Dakota pork plant after the area governor and mayor wrote that the factory was a locus for coronavirus transmission within the state.

As a business deemed essential under most quarantine orders, Smithfield left many of its plants open and suspended production at other locations in Missouri and Wisconsin as well as South Dakota. On April 27, South Dakota governor Kristi Noem said in an interview with Fox News that she hoped the Sioux falls facility would reopen “as soon as possible.”

On April 24, a day after the lawsuit was filed, Smithfield suspended operations at its Monmouth, Illinois facility after some employees tested positive for COVID-19. In a statement on the Monmouth plant’s closure, Smithfield said it has addressed the spread of the virus “proactively and aggressively” by providing employees with masks, installing physical barriers, and implementing thermal scanning.

The lawsuit from the RCWA disputes some of those details. According to the RCWA and the anonymous employee, Smithfield didn’t provide masks to any of its Milan plant workers until April 16—two weeks after workers at the plant sent a letter to the company expressing fear they were being put at risk.

That letter, sent April 2, also complained that Smithfield initially punished workers for taking sick leave, and the lawsuit alleges that Smithfield actually continues to do so. The lawsuit further alleges that Smithfield incentivized workers to come into work sick by offering a $500 bonus to employees who didn’t miss a shift between the first days of April and May.

In a statement released April 24, Smithfield contradicted the complaint’s characterization of its sick leave policy. “The company has been explicitly instructing employees not to report to work if they are sick and that they will be paid,” the statement read. Smithfield also noted that meat processing is a particularly difficult environment to implement social distancing in.

“The inherent nature of meat processing, which is labor intensive, assembly line style production, makes social distancing particularly challenging,” it said. Other meat processing companies have experienced friction with their employees during the COVID-19 outbreak, including JBS USA and Tyson.

The lawsuit seeks an injunction that would force Smithfield foods to follow “CDC guidance, the orders of state public health officials, and additional protective measures” deemed necessary by public health experts. The case is Rural Community Workers Alliance v. Smithfield Foods Inc, U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri, No. 5:20-cv-06063.

About the Author

EHS Today Staff

EHS Today's editorial staff includes:

Dave Blanchard, Editor-in-Chief: During his career Dave has led the editorial management of many of Endeavor Business Media's best-known brands, including IndustryWeekEHS Today, Material Handling & LogisticsLogistics Today, Supply Chain Technology News, and Business Finance. In addition, he serves as senior content director of the annual Safety Leadership Conference. With over 30 years of B2B media experience, Dave literally wrote the book on supply chain management, Supply Chain Management Best Practices (John Wiley & Sons, 2021), which has been translated into several languages and is currently in its third edition. He is a frequent speaker and moderator at major trade shows and conferences, and has won numerous awards for writing and editing. He is a voting member of the jury of the Logistics Hall of Fame, and is a graduate of Northern Illinois University.

Adrienne Selko, Senior Editor: In addition to her roles with EHS Today and the Safety Leadership Conference, Adrienne is also a senior editor at IndustryWeek and has written about many topics, with her current focus on workforce development strategies. She is also a senior editor at Material Handling & Logistics. Previously she was in corporate communications at a medical manufacturing company as well as a large regional bank. She is the author of Do I Have to Wear Garlic Around My Neck?, which made the Cleveland Plain Dealer's best sellers list.

Nicole Stempak, Managing Editor:  Nicole Stempak is managing editor of EHS Today and conference content manager of the Safety Leadership Conference.

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