Worker Justice
Buljic v. Tyson Foods, Inc.
FarmSTAND (formerly the Food Project at Public Justice) filed an amicus brief in support of meatpacking workers who died from contracting COVID-19 at a Tyson slaughterhouse in Waterloo, Iowa (Buljic…
The National Law Review: Court Won’t Step in For OSHA in Pandemic-Plagued Meat Packing Plant
On March 30, the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania dismissed the complaint a group of meat packing plant workers filed last summer against then Secretary of…
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…
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…
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…
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,…
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.
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…
KMA Land: Iowa News Headlines Thursday, December 17, 2020
(Des Moines, IA) — The Iowa Supreme Court heard arguments Wednesday in a case where the state is asking that a lawsuit by environmental groups challenging the strategy for handling…