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Law360 (May 13, 2020, 6:11 PM EDT) -- Attorneys general in 20 Democratic-voting states have banded together to send a letter to President Donald Trump criticizing his decision to keep meat processing plants open via executive order, one day after a Republican bloc of attorneys general urged Congress to enact a COVID-19 liability shield for businesses.
The left-leaning coalition asked Trump on Tuesday to take actions to ensure the safety of meat and poultry processing workers, many of whom have been put in harm's way due to coronavirus outbreaks at more than three dozen processing facilities across the country.
"The industry's workers are risking their lives to maintain production in these facilities under extremely unsafe working conditions," the letter said. "Your action purporting to force plants to stay open and employees to continue working must be accompanied by the enforcement of standards to ensure the safety of these essential workers."
Trump in late April invoked the Defense Production Act to designate meatpacking plants as critical infrastructure amid the COVID-19 pandemic, a move meant to address concerns about potential liability for the packing companies. His order tasks the U.S Department of Agriculture with taking "all appropriate action" to ensure meat processors continue operating, while also following recent guidance on worker safety from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
But the coalition, led by Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh and joined by attorneys general in California, New York, Illinois and elsewhere, argued that meatpacking safety guidelines issued by the CDC and OSHA are ineffective because they are voluntary and not enforceable.
The group asked the president to issue mandatory standards for the industry, including priority COVID-19 testing for workers, access to personal protective equipment, and isolation and quarantine for workers who test positive, with full pay.
The letter was sent to the president a day after 21 Republican attorneys general asked Congress to shield companies from civil suits related to worker and consumer COVID-19 infections.
Led by Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr and joined by Florida, Texas and other states, the coalition sent a May 11 letter to the Senate Committee on the Judiciary and other Congressional leaders asking for a "common-sense framework to provide liability protections" for reopening businesses.
"Businesses need clearly defined expectations for the safe and appropriate continuance of operations while being protected from devastating civil liability litigation concerning baseless COVID-related claims," the letter said.
The letter was sent ahead of the Judiciary Committee's hearing Tuesday to discuss a possible liability shield for businesses, a topic that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., has said is a "red line" issue that will be a top Republican priority for the next coronavirus relief bill.
During the hearing, witnesses for employers and employees expressed a need for the federal government to issue enforceable workplace standards, a notion that many of the senators agreed with, including Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham, R-S.C.
"The sooner we can come up with a regulatory, OSHA-driven process to allow big, small and intermediate businesses [guidance], the better off we'll be," Graham said.
One witness who called for enforceable workplace standards, Marc Perrone, the president of the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union, testified that 35 meatpacking workers and 60 grocery store workers have died of COVID-19, with thousands more directly impacted by the virus.
Frosh's letter was signed by attorneys general of California, Colorado, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Illinois, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Virginia, Washington and Wisconsin.
Carr's letter was signed by attorneys general of Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Florida, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah and West Virginia.
--Additional reporting by Daniel Wilson. Editing by Abbie Sarfo.
For a reprint of this article, please contact reprints@law360.com.
