36-year-old Hugo Dominguez passed away on April 25 after he caught coronavirus while working at the Quality Sausage Company.
His family has filed suit against the company in Dallas, claiming he and other meatpacking workers were forced to report for work even after calling in sick.
According to WFAA-TV, the meatpacking plant “refused to take the pandemic seriously, and kept its functions as normal, taking no precautions and implementing no protocols for the safety of its workers.”
This comes after over 10,000 meat industry employees have been diagnosed with coronavirus, and at least 45 of them have passed away.
Aside from Dominguez, another worker at the Quality Sausage Plant died from the killer virus. Both men were in their 30s.
It was on April 15 when Dominguez first started experiencing symptoms of coronavirus. However, he and other workers were told to report even after they already called in sick.
Workers were also not asked to maintain social distancing nor given personal protective equipment to prevent the spread of coronavirus, the lawsuit claims.
Dominguez’s fiancé, Blanca Parra, said to ABC affiliate: “It’s hard. I’m working hard every day to don’t break up myself because I have to be strong for my kids.”
According to the lawsuit, Dominguez was “a man with a strong work ethic and deep commitment to his children and family, he continued to work till the day he just couldn’t go on, and a few days later he was gone.”
The Quality Sausage said in a statement to Daily Mail that it hadn’t seen the copy of the lawsuit yet. “The health and well-being of our employees is extremely important to us. The spread of COVID-19 across the country and within our community is challenging all of us.”
The plant said it has temporarily stopped operations as it assesses its response to coronavirus. It has also updated its procedures to follow the guidelines of CDC and OSHA.
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Replaced!