Tyson Foods says seven managers at an Iowa processing plant have been fired. The move follows an investigation that revealed they placed bets on which workers would contract the coronavirus.
In November, the supervisors at the Waterloo, IA pork processing plant were suspended after a COVID-related wrongful death lawsuit was filed.
In addition to betting, the lawsuit accuses Tyson of gross negligence, wanton disregard for worker safety, and the company using bonuses to incentivize people to come in sick.
An attorney says those bonuses could be Tyson’s biggest legal issue.
“They weren’t exactly betting on how many would die or have some incentive for people to get sick or have them die,” said Iowa attorney Marlon Mormann. “I still think this is more Tyson trying to come up with scapegoats. They fire a bunch of people and say ‘oh it’s all their fault and now the company shouldn’t take any responsibility, because we fired all the managers that did it.”
Tyson’s president says they are working to improve communication with workers and reinforcing the company’s “core values and team behaviors.”
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