In this May 2020, file photo, Tyson's Fresh Meat workers file in for a tour of safety measures put into place after the plant in Waterloo, Iowa, had to shut down due to a COVID-19 outbreak.
IOWA CITY, Iowa — Tyson Foods has fired seven top managers at its largest pork plant after an independent investigation into allegations that they bet on how many workers would test positive for the coronavirus, the company said.
The company said last week that the investigation led by former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder revealed troubling behavior that resulted in the firings at the plant in Waterloo, Iowa. An outbreak centered around the plant infected more than 1,000 employees, at least six of whom died.
"We value our people and expect everyone on the team, especially our leaders, to operate with integrity and care in everything we do," Tyson Foods President and CEO Dean Banks said in a statement. "The behavior exhibited by these individuals does not represent the Tyson core values, which is why we took immediate and appropriate action to get to the truth."
Banks traveled to the Waterloo plant on Wednesday to discuss the actions with employees. The company did not release the names of those fired or detailed findings of the investigation.
Tyson suspended several top officials last month and retained the law firm Covington & Burling LLP, where Holder is a partner, to conduct the investigation.
Lawyers for the families of four deceased Waterloo workers allege in lawsuits that plant manager Tom Hart organized a buy-in betting pool for supervisors to wager on how many employees would test positive for COVID-19.
Hart allegedly organized the pool last spring as the virus spread through the Waterloo plant. It eventually tore through the broader Waterloo community.
The lawsuits also allege plant managers pressured employees to keep working, even through sickness, and that the company waited too long to shut down the plant to stem the outbreak.
Mel Orchard, an attorney for the deceased workers' families, said the firings confirm the authenticity of some "ghoulish" allegations in the lawsuits. He said Tyson "gambled with workers' lives" by downplaying the virus and not offering adequate safety precautions.
The lawsuits allege that managers told workers they had a responsibility to stay on the job to ensure that Americans didn't go hungry, even while they started avoiding the plant floor themselves because they were afraid of contracting the virus.
The lawsuits name Hart, managers John Casey and Cody Brustkern, safety manager Bret Tapken and human resources director James Hook as defendants. They have not returned messages seeking comment.
Tyson vowed Wednesday to open more avenues for employees to communicate concerns, to create a working group to strengthen collaborations with community leaders and to reinforce the importance of its values. Banks said Holder's team would help "look for ways to enhance a trusting and respectful workplace."
Separately, the family of a Tyson Foods employee is alleging in a lawsuit that he died from COVID-19 after the meat processing giant failed to implement safety protocols to guard against the coronavirus at the plant in Storm Lake, Iowa, where he worked.
Michael Everhard, 65, of Fonda, died of COVID-19 on June 18, three weeks after being diagnosed with the virus. His family contends he became infected at the Storm Lake plant where he worked for 27 years, The Sioux City Journal reported.
The lawsuit, filed by Everhard's three children, argues that Tyson and its managers required him and other employees to continue working in an environment "rife with coronavirus" and didn't implement safety precautions to protect them from contracting the virus, Storm Lake attorney Willis Hamilton said.
In response, Tyson spokeswoman Liz Croston said the company has implemented several measures at its facilities that meet or exceed federal guidance for preventing the spread of COVID-19.
Photo gallery: UW-Madison's new Meat Science & Animal Biologics Discovery building
Meat Science and Animal Biologics Discovery
Jeff Sindelar, an associate professor in the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences and who has expertise in meat science and processing, gives a tour of the Meat Science and Animal Biologics Discovery building on the UW-Madison campus.
Meat Science and Animal Biologics Discovery
This table is in the Jones Dairy Farms conference room in the Meat Science and Animal Biologics Discovery building at UW-Madison. Much of the wood for the table came from trees harvested at the Jones farm in Fort Atkinson. Legs for the tables were made from ham molds salvaged from Oscar Mayer.
Meat Science and Animal Biologics Discovery
The Meat Science and Animal Biologics Discovery, a $57.1 million, two-story modern teaching, research and outreach facility to support the meat industry of the State of Wisconsin is now open.
Meat Science and Animal Biologics Discovery
Jeff Sindelar shows off UW-Madison's new Meat Science and Animal Biologics Discovery building, a $50 million teaching, research, and outreach facility to support the state's meat industry.
Meat Science and Animal Biologics Discovery
Mitch Monson is manager of the retail shop at the Meat Science and Animal Biologics Discovery Building, a $57.1 million, two-story modern teaching, research and outreach facility.
Meat Science and Animal Biologics Discovery
The new Meat Science and Animal Biologics Discovery building replaces an existing lab built in three sections in 1930, 1959 and 1969.
2020-11-11-Meatscience10-11132020111958
The Meat and Muscle Biology Building, a $50 million, two-story modern teaching, research, and outreach facility to support the meat industry of the State of Wisconsin is now open. This project replaces the existing Meat and Muscle Biology Building built in three sections in 1930, 1959, and 1969. It also includes a retail store. It was photographed Wednesday, Nov., 11, 2020 . STEVE APPS, STATE JOURNAL
Meat Science and Animal Biologics Discovery
Whole pigs wait to be processed in the USDA-certified plant that is part of the $57.1 million building.
Meat Science and Animal Biologics Discovery
The new Meat Science & Animal Biologics Discovery building includes a retail shop.
Meat Science and Animal Biologics Discovery
The Meat Science and Animal Biologics Discovery building, a $57.1 million, two-story modern teaching, research, and outreach facility to support the meat industry of the State of Wisconsin is now open. This project replaces the existing Meat and Muscle Biology Building built in three sections in 1930, 1959, and 1969. It also includes a retail store. It was photographed Wednesday, Nov., 11, 2020. STEVE APPS, STATE JOURNAL
Meat Science and Animal Biologics Discovery
Sanitation is critical in the new facility at UW-Madison.
Meat Science and Animal Biologics Discovery
The new Meat Science and Animal Biologics Discovery building includes a retail shop.
Meat Science and Animal Biologics Discovery
The new Meat and Muscle Biology Building replaces an existing lab built in three sections in 1930, 1959 and 1969.
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December 22, 2020 at 12:15AM
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