In this photo from the May 2020 file, Tyson’s Fresh Meat workers present a tour of the safety measures put in place after the Waterloo, Iowa plant had to close due to an outbreak of COVID-19 . Lawyers for the dead worker farms report that the top manager of Tyson Foods’ largest pig plant created a pool for administrators to bet on how many workers would become infected during a coronavirus outbreak.
Brandon Pollock | The messenger | AP
Tyson Foods has fired seven top executives from its largest pork plant following an independent investigation into allegations that bet on how many workers would test positive for coronavirus, the company announced Wednesday.
The company said the investigation led by former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder revealed worrying behavior that sparked shootings at the Waterloo, Iowa plant. An outbreak around the plant infected more than 1,000 employees, of whom at least six died.
“We value our people and expect all team members, especially our leaders, to operate with integrity and care in everything we do,” Tyson Foods President and CEO Dean Banks said in a statement. . “The behavior of these people does not represent Tyson’s core values, so we took immediate and appropriate action to get to the truth.”
Banks traveled to the Waterloo plant Wednesday to discuss actions with employees. The company did not disclose the names of the fired or the detailed findings of the investigation.
Tyson suspended several senior officials last month and retained the law firm Covington & Burling LLP, of which Holder is a partner, to conduct the investigation.
Lawyers for the families of four dead Waterloo workers allege in court that the plant’s manager, Tom Hart, organized a pool of buy-in bets for supervisors to bet on how many employees would test positive for Covid-19.
Hart allegedly organized the pool last spring when the virus spread through the Waterloo plant. Eventually, it broke up Waterloo’s wider community.
The lawsuits also allege that plant managers pressured employees to continue working, even due to illness, and that the company waited too long to close the plant to curb the outbreak.
Managers told workers they had a responsibility to stay in the workplace to make sure Americans didn’t go hungry, even as they began to avoid the floor of the plant because they were afraid to contract the virus, according to the lawsuits.
The lawsuits name Hart as defendants, managers John Casey and Cody Brustkern, security manager Bret Tapken and human resources director James Hook. They have not returned any messages seeking comment.
Tyson promised Wednesday to open more avenues for employees to communicate concerns, create a working group to strengthen collaborations with community leaders, and reinforce the importance of their values. Banks said the incumbent’s team would help “look for ways to improve a job of trust and respect.”
Separately, the family of a Tyson Foods employee alleges in a lawsuit that he died of Covid-19 after the meat processing giant failed to implement safety protocols to protect itself from the coronavirus at the Storm Lake plant , Iowa, where he worked.
Michael Everhard, 65, of Honda, died of Covid-19 on June 18, three weeks after being diagnosed with the virus. His family claims he became infected at the Storm Lake plant, where he worked for 27 years, the Sioux City Journal reported.
The lawsuit, filed by Everhard’s three children, argues that Tyson and his executives demanded that he and other employees continue to work in an environment “full of coronaviruses” and not implement safety precautions to protect them from the coroner’s contract. virus, Storm Lake lawyer Willis Said Hamilton.
In response, Tyson spokeswoman Liz Croston said the company has implemented several measures at its facilities that meet or exceed federal guidelines to prevent the spread of Covid-19.