Finalist in the AoM 2021 Dark Side Case Competition, Critical Management Studies division of Academy of Management 2021.

Tyson Foods during COVID-19 Pandemic

Tyson Foods during COVID-19 Pandemic
Case Code: BECG176
Case Length: 13 Pages
Period: 2020-2021
Pub Date: 2022
Teaching Note: Available
Price: Rs.500
Organization: Tyson Foods Inc
Industry: Foodservice
Countries: United States
Themes: Business Ethics, COVID-19,Discrimination
Tyson Foods during COVID-19 Pandemic
Abstract Case Intro 1 Case Intro 2 Excerpts

Excerpts

Covid-19 Pandemic and Tyson Foods

Like many other businesses, Tyson Foods had to grapple with the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. The COVID-19 outbreak started in a wet market in Wuhan, which sold fish, birds, and both live and dead animals. While 80% of the people infected with COVID-19 showed mild symptoms such as cold and flu, around 14% displayed symptoms of pneumonia and shortness of breath. Around 5% of the patients suffered from septic shock, respiratory failure, and multiple organ failure, according to data released by the Chinese authorities. The virus soon spread to other provinces of China and throughout the world. On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization declared it a pandemic..

Negligence at tyson during covid-19?

When the coronavirus outbreak was reported in January 2020, critics pointed out that the US meat processing and packing plants were hotspots for such viruses as workers stood elbow-to-elbow in narrow production lines..

Lawsuits Against Tyson Foods

On April 26, 2020, Isidro Fernandez, a worker at Tyson Foods’ Waterloo plant, died due to COVID-19. Two other workers also passed away due to the disease. In June 2020, the families of the three deceased employees filed a lawsuit at the Iowa’s District Court for Black Hawk County alleging that Tyson Foods, despite knowing about the dangers of COVID-19, had risked the lives of its employees and lied to them about the spread of the virus at the plant in order to keep them working..

Tyson Foods’ Response

Responding to the criticism against it, Tyson Foods stated that it had taken steps in response to the pandemic. The company said that in January 2020, it had set up a coronavirus task force for working on safety protocols regarding COVID-19 – taking employee temperatures, providing protective clothing to them, and enforcing social distancing norms, in addition to relaxing its attendance policy and informing its team members to stay at home if they did not feel well..

Managing Pandemic PR?

On July 17, 2020, civil rights group for Latinos the League of United American Citizens (LULAC) visited Tyson Foods’ headquarters at Springdale. LULAC’s officials, including National President Domingo Garcia (Garcia), met Tyson Foods’ CEO Noel White (White) and spoke about providing free testing to its workers, providing adequate PPE..

Looking Ahead

In December 2020, Tyson Foods announced that it had invested US$540 million for transforming its US meat packing plants by installing high performance air filtration systems in break rooms in a bid to reduce the risk of COVID-19 transmission; designated 150 social distancing monitors to ensure that workers were wearing the PPE..

Exhibits

Exhibit I: Tyson Foods’ Purpose and Core Values
Exhibit II: Tyson Foods’ Past Controversies
Exhibit III: Tyson Foods’ Consolidated Statements of Income
Exhibit IV: COVID-19 Statistics – Top 10 Countries

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