Tyson Fires Pork Plant Managers After Probe Into Covid-19 Bets

After the allegations came to light, Tyson said it suspended some plant managers without pay and hired law firm Covington & Burling to investigate.

“The behaviors exhibited by these individuals do not represent the Tyson core values, which is why we took immediate and appropriate action to get to the truth,” said Dean Banks, Tyson’s chief executive. A company spokesman declined to identify the terminated managers.

The claims surfaced as Tyson and other U.S. meat processors face another national surge in Covid-19 infections. Record numbers of cases around the country have tested defenses meat companies put in place in response to springtime outbreaks that sickened thousands of workers, forced temporary plant closures and led to meat shortages in some supermarkets.

The U.S. meat industry also has sought to shore up its public image, pushing back on claims by regulators, lawmakers and labor unions that companies didn’t act quickly enough to protect their employees.

Some meatpackers have kept at-risk employees at home with pay amid the current virus surge, while advocating for their workers to be among the first to receive Covid-19 vaccines now being administered to front-line health-care workers and at-risk individuals.

A Tyson spokesman said the law firm’s investigation, overseen by former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, specifically looked into the gambling allegations and found enough evidence to justify firing those involved. The company said it would create a working group of local community leaders in response to the Iowa episode and find new ways to hear out workers’ concerns.

Allegations that Waterloo plant managers bet on Covid-19 infections and were slow to provide safety gear came in a November court filing as part of a continuing lawsuit. That lawsuit seeks to hold Tyson and several executives and plant managers responsible for the death of Isidro Fernandez, a plant worker who died April 26 from Covid-19 complications, according to the lawsuit.

Mel Orchard, an attorney representing Mr. Fernandez’s son, said that Tyson’s action showed the allegations’ credibility. “Tyson is beginning to do the right thing, but for some people it’s too little, too late,” Mr. Orchard said.

The facility in Waterloo is Tyson’s largest pork-processing plant, with the capacity to slaughter about 20,000 hogs daily. Tyson said on April 22 that the plant would temporarily close following coronavirus infections among employees that local news reports estimated in the hundreds.

Tony Thompson, sheriff for the county where the Waterloo plant is located, said Tyson had asked him to be part of its planned community group. “This is about moving forward and rebuilding trust, and this is a step in the right direction,” he said.

Write to Jacob Bunge at [email protected]