Cargill’s High River Plant Included in Pandemic Lawsuit

Calgary lawyer Clint Docken is in the early stages of a lawsuit involving the Cargill meat-packing plant at High River, Alta., the site of one of Canada’s worst COVID-19 outbreaks. More than 900 employees tested positive for the virus and two workers died

Docken was previously involved in class actions against Maple Leaf for a deadly listeriosis outbreak in 2008 and against XL Foods after an E. coli outbreak in 2012 lead to the largest food recall in Canadian history.

“It’s the conditions in the plants. These plants are cesspools.”

 

“It’s the conditions in the plants. In Maple Leaf it was the sanitary condition in the plant and in XL Foods it was the sanitary condition in the plant,” he said..

“In a sense, (Cargill) is another sanitary condition in a plant lawsuit. These plants are cesspools.”

Michael Hughes, a spokesman for the United Food and Commercial Workers Local 401, which represents workers at Cargill, says leaders have been speaking with lawyers in and outside Alberta about a lawsuit “to try and make whole our members at Cargill who suffered as a result of the outbreak.”

From left to right: Benito Quesada, 51; Hiep Bui, 67; and Armando Sallegue, 71, have all died of COVID-19, with their deaths linked to an outbreak at the Cargill slaughterhouse near High River, Alta. Quesada and Bui were workers at the plant, and Sallegue was the father of a worker. (UFCW 401, Action Dignity, Arwyn Sallegue)

Other industries

Other COVID-19 lawsuits involve airline travellers refused fare refunds, businesses looking for compensation against insurance companies not paying interruption insurance, and university students who want partial tuition refunds due to a shortened school year.

Lawsuits involving seniors homes, airlines, universities and ticket providers affected by COVID-19 could tie up Canadian courts for years, says a litigation lawyer.

Michael Smith, a partner at the Bennett Jones law firm in Toronto, says it has been tracking all proposed class-action claims related to the pandemic.

From the end of March to June 1, the firm recorded 19 such lawsuits across Canada, including eight against long-term care facilities.

“What you find with COVID is the breadth of the sectors it touches,” Smith said in an interview. “You’re seeing many industry sectors affected simultaneously. We will have COVID-related cases in the courts for many years.”

The Canadian Press