"Defendants knew that its failure to take these steps in a timely manner presented a severe risk to the health and lives of employees and their families." "Any steps to prevent COVID-19 infections that were taken by defendants were too late," the complaint alleges. The complaint alleges that Pilgrims waited too long to implement measures such as mask wearing, social distancing, on site testing, temperature monitoring and mandating that sick or knowingly exposed employees stay home for a recovery or quarantine period. She allegedly brought the virus home to her husband, David Elijah, who was disabled and home-bound with a previous leg amputation.ĭavid Elijah died of COVID on May 22, according to a death certificate attached to the complaint. None of the defendants could be reached for comment Thursday.Īccording to the complaint, plaintiff Sybil Elijah contracted COVID in May 2020 while working as a custodian at the Pilgrim's plant in Mount Pleasant. Also named is Packers Sanitation Services, a food safety company. Named as defendants are Pilgrims Pride Corporation and its parent company, JBS USA Holdings. Both Elijah and Brown are named individually and as representatives of the estates of spouses who perished as a result of infection with COVID-19. The complaint now pending in the Texarkana Division of the Eastern District of Texas was filed by Houston lawyer Eugene Egdorf on behalf of Sybil Elijah and Rayford Brown. TEXARKANA, Texas - A federal lawsuit filed Wednesday in connection with the pandemic and a chicken processing plant in Mount Pleasant, Texas, accuses Pilgrims Pride of putting profits above worker safety during the COVID-19 pandemic.