Friend –

Essential workers at meatpacking plants have been hit harder by COVID-19 than almost any other industry. Tens of thousands of people have become infected in major outbreaks at plants across the country – and some companies have done next to nothing in response.

Noah's Ark Processors, which operates a beef processing plant in Nebraska, is one glaring example. That's why we're suing.

The ACLU and the ACLU of Nebraska filed a federal lawsuit after Noah's Ark refused to implement basic protections against a coronavirus surge in its meatpacking plant. Workers – the majority of whom are Latinx and immigrants – were crowded together in unsanitary conditions even as coworkers fell ill with COVID-19 symptoms.

''The first thing they said was that nobody could miss work,'' a former plant worker, and plaintiff in our case, explained. ''They would say that [COVID-19] was just nonsense.'' You can read more about the appalling experiences that our plaintiffs had to work through here.

Even now, nine months into the pandemic, employees working on the production lines and kill floor are being packed together in close quarters. The company does not have a testing program in place or sick-leave policies posted. And workers are given only one mask per eight-hour shift – even if it becomes soaked in sweat or spattered with blood.

It's unacceptable and dangerous. Especially at this point in the pandemic, there is no excuse for treating workers like this. But local, state, and federal officials still have not enforced any laws that would require safe working conditions in Nebraska's meatpacking plants.

That's why the ACLU turned to the courts, ACLU Supporter. Our litigation aims to protect essential workers and their communities by establishing a clear baseline of COVID-19 protections that all plants must provide.

The dangerous and abusive treatment that meatpacking workers are facing in this pandemic must end – and we will not stop working to protect the safety of every person until it does.

Read more about our ongoing lawsuit here, and please stay with us in our fight ahead.

Thank you,

Spencer Amdur
Pronouns: He, him, his
ACLU attorney, fighting for immigrants' rights