Tyson Foods, Inc. announced December 16 it had concluded an independent investigation into allegations that managers at its pork plant in Waterloo, Iowa conducted a betting ring on how many employees would contract COVID-19. Tyson said it had terminated seven management-level employees based on the investigation, which was led by former Attorney General Eric Holder.
The results of the investigation were not made public, but in a statement, Tyson Foods CEO Dean Banks said that the fired employees’ behavior did not represent his company’s values.
“We value our people and expect everyone on the team, especially our leaders, to operate with integrity and care in everything we do,” said Banks. “Now that the investigation has concluded, we are taking action based on the findings.”
According to the Associated Press, at least 1,000 employees at the plant have tested positive for the virus, more than 35% of the plant’s 2,800 employees. It has killed at least six.
A wrongful-death lawsuit filed on November 18 on behalf of a late employee by his family alleged that plant manager Tom Hart organized a “winner-take-all betting pool” for management level employees to bet on how many employees would test positive for COVID. The suit also alleged that managers began avoiding the plant floor in late March or early April for fear of the virus, delegating managerial responsibility to lower-level supervisors.
It also said that Tyson Foods offered a $500 bonus to employees that went three months without missing a scheduled shift, a policy decision the plaintiffs allege encouraged sick workers to continue reporting for work.
According to Tyson Foods, Banks personally visited the Waterloo plant after the allegations were made public to meet with plant employees and discuss new channels of communication and team values in the company.
Banks said he was “very upset” to learn of the allegations, and went on to say that Tyson Foods asked former Attorney General Holder and his team to continue working with Tyson to “help us as we continue to look for ways to enhance a trusting and respectful workplace.”
The meatpacking industry has had a difficult time adjusting to the COVID pandemic. Three major U.S. meat processing companies—Tyson Foods, Smithfield Foods Inc., and JBS USA—have been forced to shut down and slow production at many of their plants. In March, Tyson Foods and JBS USA both slowed production at plants in response to employees who stayed home; Tyson’s Waterloo plant was among them. In April, Smithfield was sued by an anonymous employee for allegedly punishing workers in its Milan, Missouri pork plant for taking sick leave or covering their mouths while coughing or sneezing.
On April 28, after Tyson Foods chairman John H. Tyson took out a front-page ad in prominent national newspapers warning that the national food supply chain for meats was in peril, President Trump invoked the Defense Production Act to order meat processors in the food supply chain to continue production.
