Tyson Foods fired seven managers from a pork plant in Waterloo, Iowa after an investigation confirmed they participated in a betting ring on how many employees would get COVID-19, NPR reported Dec.16.
"The behaviors exhibited by these individuals do not represent the Tyson core values, which is why we took immediate action and appropriate action to get to the truth," said Dean Banks, Tyson Foods president and CEO. "Now that the investigation has concluded, we are taking action based on the findings."
The family of an employee who died, Isidro Fernandez, filed a lawsuit which referenced a COVID-19 bet, saying a manager led a "cash buy-in, winner-take-all betting pool for supervisors and managers to wager how many employees would test positive for COVID-19," according to NPR.
There's been more than 1,000 COVID-19 cases among employees at the facility and at least six deaths. Local officials fought to close the location in the spring over unsafe working conditions. Tyson suspended operations at the location for two weeks.
More articles on public health:
Number of COVID-19 hospitalizations, state by state: Dec. 17
21 states where COVID-19 is spreading fastest, slowest: Dec. 17
Scientists will visit China next month to study COVID-19's origin, WHO says