IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) – Tyson Foods has fired seven top executives from its largest pork plant after an independent investigation confirmed allegations that they were betting on how many workers would test positive for the coronavirus, the company announced Wednesday.
The company said the investigation, led by former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, revealed worrying behavior that sparked gunfire 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.
Tyson spokesman Gary Mickelson said the company will not disclose the detailed findings of the investigation or the names of the fired, citing privacy issues.
“We can tell you that Mr. Holder and his team specifically examined the gaming allegations and found enough evidence to put an end to those involved,” he said.
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.
Former maintenance manager Cody Brustkern said he cooperated with the investigation, but that he was fired from his ten-year job Tuesday night without explanation. He said executives “protected their brand” over their longtime managers.
“The way he handled it was very disappointing,” he said. “I still don’t know why I was fired. It’s crazy.”
Lawyers for the families of four dead Waterloo workers have complained in court that the plant’s manager, Tom Hart, organized a fund of purchase bets for supervisors to bet on what percentage of plant workers would test positive for COVID -19.
Hart allegedly organized the pool last spring as the virus spread through the Waterloo plant and the wider Waterloo community.
A former supervisor described the bet to the plaintiffs’ attorneys, saying he and nine others put $ 10 each into the pool while mass testing of workers was done. The winner who pulled out a piece of paper with the correct percentage of a hat got the $ 100 payout.
Mel Orchard, a lawyer for the families of the dead workers, said the layoffs confirm the authenticity of some “sad” allegations in the lawsuits. He said Tyson was “playing with workers’ lives” by minimizing the virus and not offering proper safety precautions.
“I’m grateful they can get to the bottom, but it’s too late for some people,” he said. “I hope Eric Holder stays in this case and continues to investigate the real issue: How come more than a thousand employees at a plant got sick and many died?”
The lawsuits 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 keep working to make sure Americans didn’t go hungry, even as they began to avoid the floor of the plant because they were afraid of contracting the virus.
The defendants designate Hart, Brustkern, directors John Casey and Bret Tapken and human resources director James Hook as defendants. Attempts to reach Hart, Casey, Tapken and Hook were not immediately successful.
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.”
The steps come as Tyson faces ongoing scrutiny of his COVID-19 response and a debate over whether Congress and states should protect companies from legal liability linked to infected workers and customers.
New York City Controller Scott Stinger on Tuesday asked the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to investigate whether Tyson has made misleading disclosures to investors about his response to the pandemic.
“Tyson’s failures have a human cost: preventable deaths, hospitalizations and sick workers. These failures have material impacts on their business operations that pose serious risks to shareholders, ”he said.
Separately, the family of another 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 plant. of Storm Lake, 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.
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.