PA meatpackers sue to compel OSHA to intervene in COVID-19 workplace concerns

COVID-19 has raised an unprecedented number of new concerns for the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and the employers required to follow its guidance. On July 22, employees at a Pennsylvania meatpacking plant filed a lawsuit against OSHA claiming the agency has been derelict in ensuring the plant implemented proper safety measures to address the spread of COVID-19. The suit asks the agency to inspect the plant immediately and abate the current safety threats. Employers across all industries can look to the suit as a representative example of what might be expected by failing to follow coronavirus-related safety guidelines.

Allegations

The Maid-Rite Specialty Foods meatpacking plant in Dunmore, Pennsylvania, packages meat to be frozen and sold for mass production at schools, nursing homes, and military bases. The complaint filed by its employees (as well as the advocacy group Friends of Farmworkers) claims the plant hasn’t enacted adequate procedures to protect workers from contracting COVID-19 and specifically alleges they haven’t been given adequate hand-washing breaks, aren’t provided masks (except on three occasions), and are “incentivized” to report to work when they're sick.

Further, the suit contends the plant has increased the risk of spreading COVID-19 by rotating in workers from other facilities. The employees claim the plant’s failure to act has resulted in nearly half of the workforce contracting the coronavirus since March.