Tyson Foods has fired seven from an Iowa pork processing plant after supervisors created a winner-take-all betting pool about the number of employees at the plant who would contract the coronavirus, NBC News reports.
The betting came to attention after a wrongful death suit was filed against the company, where 1,000 to 2,800 employees became infected with the virus.
“We value our people and expect everyone on the team, especially our leaders, to operate with integrity and care in everything we do,” said Dean Banks, Tyson Foods President and CEO, said in a statement on Wednesday. “The behaviors exhibited by these individuals do not represent the Tyson core values, which is why we took immediate and appropriate action to get to the truth.”
The plant was shut down for one month after the outbreak. The Black Hawk County Sheriff Tony Thompson testified during the investigation that the conditions he witnessed at the plant “shook [him] to the core.”
Tyson ultimately hired a law firm, Covington & Burling LLP, to investigate the conditions at the plant and the wagering accusations.