Class Action Lawsuit Filed Against Cargill

A class action lawsuit has now been filed over the COVID 19 outbreak at the Cargill's beef plant in High River earlier this year. 

 

While the Calgary law firms are making it clear, the US based company isn't being blamed for the virus itself, the suit is over actions the company could have taken at the huge plant to avoid the situation in April, when dozens of workers contracted the virus, and some of them died.  Around the middle of April, dozens of employees at the plant, many of whom are temporary foreign workers, started getting sick.  At the time, Alberta's chief medical health officer, Dr. Deena Hinshaw said all aspects of why workers were getting sick, needed to be investigated including their time at work, and away from work.  Many of the workers car pool and also share accomodations.  At the time, it was considered the worst single outbreak of COVID in Canada, and it forced the plant to shut down for two weeks, resulting in a huge backlog of cattle that needed to be processed.  Cargill hasn't made any comment regarding the suit. 

 

The provincial NDP is demanding a public inquiry into the role the UCP government played in the outbreak.