Tyson Foods fired seven top managers at its largest pork processing plant after an investigation confirmed allegations that they bet on how many workers would test positive for COVID.
The investigation was led by former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder and revealed details that an ABC News article called “troubling allegations.” An outbreak at the Tyson Plant in Waterloo, Iowa, infected more than 1,000 employees, 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,” says Tyson Foods CEO Dean Banks.
“The behavior exhibited by these individuals does not represent the Tyson core values, which is why we took immediate action to get to the truth.” Banks traveled to the Waterloo plant this week to talk about the actions with the employees.
Tyson spokesman Gary Mickelson says the company won’t release any detailed findings of the investigation or the names of those fired because of privacy issues. “We can tell you that Mr. Holder and his team looked at the gaming allegations and found enough evidence for us to terminate those involved,” Mickelson says.
