Lawsuits: Tyson managers bet on virus cases at Iowa plant

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — The top official at Tyson Foods’ largest pork plant created a pool for managers to bet on how many workers would get infected during a widespread coronavirus outbreak, lawyers for the estates of four dead workers allege.

In recently amended wrongful death lawsuits, plaintiffs’ lawyers allege that Tyson's Waterloo plant manager Tom Hart “organized a cash buy-in, winner-take-all betting pool for supervisors and managers to wager on how many employees would test positive for COVID-19.”

Hart allegedly organized the pool last spring as the virus spread through the Waterloo plant, ultimately infecting more than 1,000 of its 2,800 workers, killing at least six and sending many others to the hospital. The outbreak eventually tore through the broader Waterloo community.

Hart did not respond to an email seeking comment, and the plant’s phone rang unanswered Thursday. A spokesman for Arkansas-based Tyson, which reported strong earnings and sales on Monday, didn’t reply to messages.

The lawyers represent the estates of Sedika Buljic, 58; Reberiano Garcia, 60; Jose Ayala Jr., 44; and Isidro Fernandez, age unknown. Buljic, Garcia and Fernandez died in April, and Ayala died May 25 after a six-week hospitalization.

The allegation, which was first reported Wednesday by the Iowa Capital Dispatch news site, generated widespread outrage against Tyson on social media and in Waterloo.

Democratic State Rep. Ras Smith, whose district includes the plant, said Hart should be fired if the allegation is founded and that workplace safety officials should investigate.

“They were knowingly allowing this virus to spread rampantly in the plant and the community. The more we hear, the more we find out how insidious and intentional it was,” Smith said.

At the...