Missouri Rep. Hartzler offers bill to block COVID lawsuits against meatpacking plants
Rep. Vicky Hartzler introduced legislation May 15 to shield meatpacking companies from legal liability during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Missouri Republican’s bill offers sweeping protections for meatpacking companies, stating that “a meat processing facility shall not be liable under Federal or State law for any act or omission of the facility with respect to any harm arising from exposure to, or infection by, the virus that causes COVID–19 during a public health emergency.”
Hartzler’s bill follows a string of COVID-19 outbreaks at meatpacking facilities nationwide, including in Kansas and Missouri, that threaten to create shortages of beef, pork and poultry. It is also part of a broader push by congressional and state Republicans to protect businesses from legal action during the pandemic.
President Donald Trump invoked the Defense Production Act last month to keep the plants open during the crisis to ensure grocery stores remain stocked.
Supporters say Trump’s order provided resources to ensure safety at the facilities, while critics say it lacked provisions to protect workers.
Hartzler’s “Protecting Protein Production and Consumer Access Act” would shield companies operating under the production law from almost any lawsuit by workers, except in cases of criminal misconduct or gross negligence.
In a letter to House and Senate leaders, Hartzler argued it is “imperative that processing facilities are afforded proper liability protection to operate safely and fulfill their mandate to ensure Americans have access to the food they need.”
The reopening of facilities “must be done safely without exposing these essential businesses to harmful legal quagmire,” she continued.
Hartzler’s west-central Missouri district includes a Cargill plant in California, Missouri, and a Tyson Foods in Sedalia, Missouri.
Workers at Smithfield Foods in Milan, Missouri, filed a federal lawsuit last month, alleging that the company failed to follow guidelines from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to protect workers. A judge dismissed the case last week after determining the court lacked jurisdiction.
The Environmental Working Group, a national organization that advocates for stricter environmental regulations, released a report stating that counties within 15 miles of a meatpacking plant experienced a COVID-19 infection rate of 373 cases per 100,000 residents, nearly twice the national average, based on data through May 6.
“EWG’s analysis dramatically quantifies a fact attested to by news reports from across the nation: Meatpacking plants, along with prisons and senior living facilities, are the hottest hot spots for COVID-19 infections,” the report said.
The report found that in both Kansas and Missouri that 6% of the confirmed COVID-19 cases were tied to meatpacking facilities. The states are major producers of beef and pork.
The rate was even higher in Nebraska and Iowa, where meatpacking plants respectively account for 20% and 18% of cases, according the EWG’s analysis.
The Triumph Foods in St. Joseph, where more than 400 workers have tested positive, is one of Missouri’s biggest clusters. Buchanan County, which includes the city, has 476 cases in a population of a little more than 89,000, according to the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services.
Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kansas, the Senate Agriculture chairman, noted that Kansas counties with meatpacking plants were seeing a spike in cases.
Ford County, where the Cargill and National Beef plants are located, has 1,232 cases of COVID-19, the most of any county in Kansas, according to state data. For comparison, Wyandotte County has reported 1,107 cases, the next highest total, but it also has five times the population of Ford County, which has less than 34,000 people.
“Liberal, Garden City, Dodge City, Emporia are hot spots,” Roberts said last, week listing Kansas cities with meatpacking plants.
“That’s a very unique challenge because you are backing up the entire food supply,” Roberts said. “We’ve got five packing plants that represent about 25 percent of the entire cattle market.”
Roberts praised both Trump and Kansas Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly for taking steps to keep the plants open, but he said the challenge now is to persuade workers that it’s safe to return to work.
Rep. Roger Marshall, a Kansas Republican who toured National Beef and Cargill’s plants in April, contended last month that workers face a greater risk during trips the grocery store than at the plants after they instituted screenings and other safety measures.
But the companies are still relying on financial incentives to entice workers during the pandemic.
An email from National Beef to employees, which was obtained by The Star, shows that the company has offered workers a $2 hourly increase and a $500 weekly bonus for fulfilling their scheduled hours through May 31.
A spokesman confirmed the hourly pay increase and said the $500 weekly bonus applies only to two of the company’s Kansas plants, in Liberal and Dodge City, and to another facility in Tama, Iowa.
This story was originally published May 15, 2020 at 9:00 AM with the headline "Missouri Rep. Hartzler offers bill to block COVID lawsuits against meatpacking plants."
