Suit seeks to force Foster Farms to better protect workers

The United Farm Workers (UFW) union filed a lawsuit that includes a request for an immediate temporary restraining order that would force Foster Farms to better protect its workers at its chicken processing plant in Livingston, California.

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(edwardolive | BigStockPhoto)
(edwardolive | BigStockPhoto)

The United Farm Workers (UFW) union filed a lawsuit that includes a request for an immediate temporary restraining order that would force Foster Farms to better protect its workers at its chicken processing plant in Livingston, California.

According to a press release from UFW, the restraining order requested in the lawsuit would call for Foster Farms to “comply with clear COVID safety rules that the company has refused to follow, despite nine workers at the plant dying and over 400 becoming infected.”

UFW claims Foster Farms has failed to create six feet of distance between line workers, failed in many cases to provide adequate masks, and failed to adequately inform workers of sick leave options.

“Foster Farms is using its corporate and political power to avoid compliance with safety rules and the results are literally deadly for employees and for Merced County residents,” UFW spokeswoman Erika Navarrete said in the release. “Employees at Foster Farms deserve a workplace that follows basic safety guidelines and places workers’ long-term health above short-term profits. After months of the company’s half-measures and hundreds of infections, only court action can protect workers and Merced County residents from Foster Farms’ dangerous practices.”

In a statement issued to KQED, Foster Farms said it does not “does not comment on active litigation in detail,” but added that the company believes UFW’s lawsuit is without merit and has “confidence that judicial review will find accordingly.”

The company, according to a KQED report, responded in court filings that the lawsuit offers “allegations based primarily on anectodal declarations and news articles that grossly misrepresent the substantial safety measures that (Foster Farms) has implemented.”

The lawsuit was filed in the Superior Court of Merced County. A hearing on the matter was scheduled for December 23.

In a statement released on December 3, Foster Farms Vice President of Communications Ira Brill said: “Foster Farms closely follows the COVID-19 guidance of the CDC as well as state and county health officials, and abides by all applicable statutory regulations. The company maintains an active set of mitigation measures designed to protect workers from COVID.”

The Livingston plant was closed during the first week of September, following an order from the Merced County Department of Public Health (MCDPH) to do so until it was deemed safe to reopen. At the time, more than 350 employees had tested positive, including eight fatalities.

View our continuing coverage of the coronavirus/COVID-19 pandemic.

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