United Farm Workers of America and two employees of a Foster Farms poultry processing plant in the Central Valley have filed a lawsuit against the company, seeking an emergency court order to force Foster Farms to improve safety protocols at its Livingston complex.
In a complaint filed in Merced County Superior Court Thursday, attorneys for the union and Livingston plant employees argue Foster Farms puts workers at the plant at an increased risk of contracting and dying from COVID-19, accusing the company of operating in “naked disregard of both national and local guidelines.”
“Foster Farms requires employees to work substantially less than six feet apart from each other for prolonged periods of time with no plastic divider or similar protection between them, fails to rigorously or effectively enforce social distancing or even to supply masks, and fails to keep its workforce adequately informed of safety and sick leave protocol, including access to COVID leave pay,” the complaint says.
The lawsuit asks the court to immediately force Foster Farms to operate its Livingston complex in accordance with a Merced County health order issued in August and emergency rules recently enacted by California’s Division of Occupational Safety and Health.
United Farm Workers of America and two employees of a Foster Farms poultry processing plant in the Central Valley have filed a lawsuit against the company, seeking an emergency court order to force Foster Farms to improve safety protocols at its Livingston complex.
In a complaint filed in Merced County Superior Court Thursday, attorneys for the union and Livingston plant employees argue Foster Farms puts workers at the plant at an increased risk of contracting and dying from COVID-19, accusing the company of operating in “naked disregard of both national and local guidelines.”
“Foster Farms requires employees to work substantially less than six feet apart from each other for prolonged periods of time with no plastic divider or similar protection between them, fails to rigorously or effectively enforce social distancing or even to supply masks, and fails to keep its workforce adequately informed of safety and sick leave protocol, including access to COVID leave pay,” the complaint says.
The lawsuit asks the court to immediately force Foster Farms to operate its Livingston complex in accordance with a Merced County health order issued in August and emergency rules recently enacted by California’s Division of Occupational Safety and Health.
The company said the lawsuit "is without merit."