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Meatpacking workers in Nebraska filed a federal lawsuit on Nov. 23, 2020, challenging treacherous COVID-19 conditions at a meatpacking plant that put employees and the surrounding community at grave risk. The plaintiffs are represented by the American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of Nebraska, and Scottsbluff attorney Maren Chaloupka.

The lawsuit was filed against Noah’s Ark Processors, which operates a beef processing plant in Hastings, Nebraska. The plaintiffs include former plant employees and a local pediatrician who treats the children of meatpacking workers and people with COVID-19.

Despite legislative advocacy and numerous complaints, local, state, and federal officials have refused to enforce laws requiring safe working conditions in Nebraska’s meatpacking plants, where essential workers are predominantly Latinx and Black. To date, there has been no enforcement action against any Nebraska meatpacking plant.

The lawsuit notes Noah’s Ark‘s persistent refusal to take obvious public health precautions — physical distancing, adequate sick leave, testing, and clean masks — to protect its workers and the surrounding community from a new surge of COVID-19 cases. That risk is growing even greater as winter approaches.

The case was filed in U.S. District Court in Lincoln, Nebraska.