Earlier this month an Oklahoma jury awarded $7.3 million to current and former poultry growers for fraud, negligence, and violations of a state consumer protection act committed by Tyson Foods, Inc. This verdict is not surprising as Tyson, like other major poultry processors, wields considerable economic clout in its relationship with poultry growers. This imbalanced relationship suggests that the “independent contractor” status of poultry growers that Tyson and other major poultry processors describe is a trick for the companies to disclaim any responsibility for the highly pollutant-concentrated poultry waste, which contaminates waterways around the country.
Like other corporate poultry processors, Tyson relies on a network of poultry growers around the country. The growers enter into a contract with the company, which retains nearly total control of the growers’ poultry operations. Tyson provides the physical materials for the poultry operations—from chicks to feed—and specifies the growing conditions for the chickens. The growers are considered independent contractors, but as the Oklahoman explained, “Tyson’s vertically integrating chicken growing system exerts a lot of influence over their operations.” Many growers say the contracts are inherently unfair and favorable to Tyson, which enjoys substantial economic clout.
From an environmental perspective, what is noticeably missing from Tyson’s “vertically integrated system” is the company’s responsibility for the poultry waste produced by the growers’ poultry operations. I wrote previously about the Oklahoma Attorney General’s suit against Tyson, which sought to hold the company, rather than the growers, responsible for the highly pollutant-concentrated poultry waste under various federal environmental laws as an integrator.
In this lawsuit, the poultry growers alleged several unfair practices, including:
Tyson is appealing the verdict, which consisted of $4.8 million in actual damages and $2.5 million in punitive damages. In its news release, the company declared that the jury heard a “tabloid-style rumor mill of mostly fabricated evidence” and that it is “assessing all options… to address this injustice and to prevent it from happening again,” a veiled threat to move its operations elsewhere. In McCurtain County, where the lawsuit was filed, Tyson employs over 1,000 people and estimates that it provides an annual economic benefit of $75 million.
With similar lawsuits to come, Tyson may finally get its comeuppance: play nicely, play fairly, or pay up.
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Yee Huang | April 22, 2010
Earlier this month an Oklahoma jury awarded $7.3 million to current and former poultry growers for fraud, negligence, and violations of a state consumer protection act committed by Tyson Foods, Inc. This verdict is not surprising as Tyson, like other major poultry processors, wields considerable economic clout in its relationship with poultry growers. This imbalanced […]
Patrick MacRoy | April 22, 2010
Guest blogger Patrick MacRoy is Director of Community-Based Initiatives and RRP Training Program Manager for the National Center for Healthy Housing. He launched the first “train-the-trainer” program to help increase the supply of accredited RRP training providers and has been working on related policy issues. Today marks a major milestone in the century-long battle against […]
Ben Somberg | April 21, 2010
Former CPR Member Scholar Christopher Schroeder was confirmed today by the Senate for his position as Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Legal Policy. Schroeder, most recently a professor at Duke University School of Law, was nominated for the post in May 2009.
James Goodwin | April 21, 2010
On March 19, OIRA Administrator Cass Sunstein issued the office’s first Review Letter of the Obama Administration, telling the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to redo their studies on how to design the labels for the agency’s new “Tire Fuel Efficiency Consumer Information Program.” (For background on Review Letters and the other types of […]
Matthew Freeman | April 21, 2010
The tagline that the producers of Food, Inc. are using to promote their Academy Award-winning documentary is “You’ll never look at dinner the same way.” They’re quite right. The film airs on many PBS stations this evening (and on others throughout the course of the next week). See for yourself. I came to it expecting that I’d end […]
James Goodwin | April 20, 2010
For the past 6 months, OIRA has hosted an all-out assault on EPA’s proposed coal ash waste rule, as a parade of representatives from King Coal and the coal ash reuse industry have walked in to attack any and every aspect of the hybrid approach the agency reportedly proposed. (Under the hybrid approach, EPA would […]
Yee Huang | April 19, 2010
A recent Water Policy Report article reported that EPA is considering dramatic changes to its Clean Water Act enforcement and permitting program and oversight of state permitting programs. Many of the changes under consideration, including prioritizing the most significant pollution problems, strengthening oversight of states, and improving transparency and accountability, are long overdue. Passed in […]
Ben Somberg | April 16, 2010
As the Pump Handle noted earlier this week, OSHA submitted its draft final rule on construction cranes and derricks to OMB on Friday of last week. It’s good news that the process is now moving along. The cranes and derricks rule has been a long saga, and it was one of the case studies in […]
Matthew Freeman | April 16, 2010
The Competitive Enterprise Institute is upset with the way administrative law works. On Thursday they released their annual report on the costs of regulations. I hesitate to dignify it with pixels, but here goes. CEI has a problem with agency rulemaking altogether: Congress should answer for the compliance costs (and benefits) of federal regulations. Requiring […]