News

April 7, 2021 In News

Successful Farming: Petition Calls for EPA Regulation of Large Dairy and Hog Farms

Two dozen environmental and consumer groups, including the Sierra Club and Government Accountability Project, petitioned the EPA on Tuesday to regulate large dairy and hog operations under federal air pollution laws. “The EPA has the duty and authority to regulate these methane super-emitters under the Clean...

April 6, 2021 In News

Law360: Green Groups Ask EPA To Regulate Big Farms’ Air Emissions

Green groups on Tuesday petitioned the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to begin regulating industrial hog and dairy operations under the Clean Air Act, saying the methane they produce is being inappropriately exploited as an energy source....

April 6, 2021 In News, Press Release

Climate, Environmental Justice Groups Call for Biden EPA to Hold Industrial Dairy and Hog Operations Accountable and to Reject Big Ag Technology

Today, environmental justice, rural community and environmental groups across the U.S. filed a petition with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, calling for the Biden EPA to regulate industrial dairy and hog operations and hold them accountable for their harmful contributions to air and climate pollution....

March 31, 2021 In News

Law Street Media: Court Dismisses COVID-19 Lawsuit Against OSHA Regarding Meatpacking Plant

On Tuesday, the Middle District of Pennsylvania dismissed a lawsuit against the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and the Department of Labor (DOL), alleging that the governmental bodies should have done more to protect workers at Maid-Rite Specialty Foods, a meatpacking plant in Scranton, Pennsylvania, during...

March 30, 2021 In News

Law360: OSHA Escapes Pa. Meatpackers’ COVID-19 Protocols Suit

A Pennsylvania federal judge on Tuesday granted the Occupational Safety and Health Administration's bid to ax a suit filed by meat processing plant workers who claimed that the agency failed to enforce COVID-19 protocols at their workplace despite receiving official complaints....

March 30, 2021 In News

Comment from Worker and Legal Team: Judge Grants OSHA Motion to Dismiss in Maid-Rite Worker Suit

Link to ruling: Maid-Rite-Dkt-59-Memorandum-Granting-Motion-to-Dismiss-Motion-to-Strike.pdf (publicjustice.net) Statement from Jane Doe II, a plaintiff in the lawsuit: “It is bad enough to be treated as inhuman by your employer during a pandemic – to work along a crowded processing line at breakneck speed, to have no room to take...

March 21, 2021 In News

The Kansas City Star: Pandemic and Trump-era neglect overwhelm federal agency tasked with worker safety

When Smithfield was sued over conditions at their plant, the company argued the job of policing workplace safety complaints belonged to the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration, or OSHA, rather than the court system....

February 12, 2021 In News

Sidney Herald: Court grants R-CALF motion in beef checkoff case for attorney fees, costs

Yesterday, a U.S. district court in Montana granted R-CALF USA's motion for $145,428.08 in legal fees and $5,344.17 in costs the group incurred in procuring a preliminary injunction in its beef checkoff case against the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) that effectively stopped the agency...

January 19, 2021 In News

Bloomberg Law: Meatpackers Press for Covid-19 Vaccine to Protect Line Workers

Meatpacking workers and their employers are pushing to the front of the line for coronavirus vaccinations as state governments roll out their distribution plans to combat the pandemic....

January 4, 2021 In News

Bloomberg Law: ‘No Evidence’ of Virus Litigation Wave as Businesses Seek Shield

The volume of lawsuits filed since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic that allege workplace safety violations—including sickness and death from lack of protective equipment, social distancing, and limiting exposure—has been far less than the onslaught predicted by pro-business groups and some politicians....