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 Documents discovered in the lawsuit filed by the family of the late Isidro Fernandez who died of COVID alleged "willful and wanton disregard for workplace safety". Fernandez and four other employees died while employed at the Tyson Foods Waterloo IA. hog plant. Over a thousand workers representing a third of the staff complement were infected with COVID-19. The lawsuit alleges that management in the plant ignored simple preventive precautions and forced workers to report for duty even if they were symptomatic. Problems occurred during March and early April when there was a dearth of knowledge about COVID, how it spreads and appropriate preventive measures.
The Waterloo plant along with other meat processing facilities remained opened during the pandemic following the April 28th Executive Order issued by the President in terms of the Defense Production Act.
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In response to allegations revealed in the lawsuit, Dean Banks, president and CEO of Tyson Foods stated, "we are extremely upset about the accusations involving some of the leadership in our Waterloo plant. He added, "the allegations do not represent who we are or our core values in team behavior". Tyson Foods has retained Covington and Burling and former Attorney General Eric Holder will lead an investigation. Banks maintained that if claims are confirmed, the company will take all necessary measures to avert a future occurrence. He claimed, "our top priority is and remains the health and safety of our team members". This is demonstrated by the action taken by Tyson Foods during and subsequent to the peak incidence of COVID as reported in posts that can be retrieved by entering Tyson in the SEARCH block.
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Tyson Implemented a testing program in tents
as an emergency response
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