Stampede Meat, located in Sunland Park, NM. has sued the state of New Mexico after receiving a 14-day mandatory closure order. The action by the State followed an upsurge in cases of COVID among workers.
Stampede Meat maintains that the order issued by the State is unconstitutional and is contrary to the Presidential Executive Order enjoining meat processing plants to remain open. According to the New Mexico Department of Health, 11 employees tested positive over a two week period with 100 positive tests among employees since the emergence of COVID.
Stampede Meat supplies a number of grocery chains, including Walmart and Costco, and claims that closure could result in meat shortages that occurred during the spring of 2020 when processing capacity declined by as much as 50 percent. This situation does not currently pertain and the action by health authorities are possibly in the best interests of Stampede Meat and the community in which they operate.