Some new allegations have been made against the Waterloo Tyson Pork Processing Plant over their handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to KWWL. The family of Isidro Fernandez, who died after contracting COVID at the plant, brought the lawsuit earlier this year. According to the allegations, plant manager Tom Hart organized a cash buy-in, winner-take-all, betting pool for supervisors and managers to wager how many plant employees would test positive. An upper-level manager, John Casey, allegedly directed supervisors to ignore symptoms of COVID-19, calling it a “glorified flu” and that everyone was going to get it. He also is accused of telling a sick supervisor that was on their way to get tested, “we all have symptoms, you have a job to do.” Tyson is also accused of offering $500 thank you bonuses to employees who did not miss a shift for three months, incentivizing sick employees to continue showing up for work.
