Union gets 1st virus injunction against meat processing plant

The United Farm Workers of America secured the nation's first preliminary injunction requiring a meat processing plant to comply with COVID-19 safety protocols. The defendant, Foster Poultry Farms, denied it violated the rules and said it would prove its case on appeal.

The tentative ruling issued Jan. 29 by Merced County Superior Court Judge Brian L. McCabe said new variants of the COVID-19 virus would likely "greatly increase the risk of infection" at the meat processing plant. In December, McCabe had issued a temporary restraining order against the Foster Poultry Farms Livingston Plant, requiring it to follow certain health protocols.

The plaintiffs are represented by attorneys at Messing Adam & Jasmine LLP Martinez Aguilasocho & Lynch APLC. Foster Poultry Farms is represented by attorneys at Seyfarth Shaw LLP.

In a statement Monday, Seyfarth Shaw said, "Foster Farms believes it will demonstrate on appeal that the company is already in compliance with required protective measures for its workforce as noted by Judge McCabe, resulting in extremely low COVID-19 prevalence levels relative to greater Merced County."

Because neither party had suggested the company was not complying with the December order, McCabe reasoned there would be "slight harm in granting a preliminary injunction" but "potential catastrophic loss to plaintiffs, defendant, and the public in general if COVID-19 were to spread throughout the ... plant."

The farmworkers sought a restraining order on Dec. 17, saying the company failed to follow state and county COVID-19 safety regulations or best practices. The lawsuit also said the Merced County Department of Public Health had declared the plant had COVID-19 outbreaks twice in 2020, and ordered the plant to shut down for a week in September.

"Since June, over 400 Foster Farms employees at the plant have contracted COVID- 19, and at least nine have died from the virus -- a death rate almost double that of Merced County," the complaint said. United Farm Workers of America et al. v. Foster Poultry Farms, 20CV-03605 (Merced Super. Ct., filed Dec. 17, 2020).

Both the judge and the company rejected many of the allegations as untrue, including the statement about the death rate.

McCabe wrote in a Jan. 8 brief, "Foster Poultry Farms has made a credible and impressive showing ... that some of the anecdotal evidence is untrue, and that defendant Foster Poultry Farms is (1) providing face masks and tasking employees to monitor face mask compliance, (2) providing face shields, (3) enforcing social distancing, (4) installation of Plexiglas or other physical barriers, (5) providing huge outdoor break areas, (6) taking steps to ascertain the health of its workers, and (7) providing pay when quarantine becomes necessary."

The judge also wrote he was "given credible evidence by defendant Foster Poultry Farms that their worker infection rate is significantly below infection rate for Merced County."

The preliminary injunction, which went into effect immediately on Jan. 29, outlines 20 safety protocols the plant must follow. These include supplying workers with personal protective equipment like masks and face shields, staggering shifts, conducting health screenings for outside visitors and workers, and implementing an investigation process for all known COVID-19 cases.