Gainesville Rapid Response and Ongoing Legal Advocacy

• The fact that the Occupational Safety and Health Administration would be conducting an inspection of Foundation Food Group because of the nitrogen leak and the six worker deaths;
  

• The function, purpose, and enforcement authority of OSHA;
  

• The workers’ rights under the OSH Act and its corresponding regulations including their right to participate in the OSHA investigation by participating in interviews 

• The fact that their statements and complaints would be protected by the informer’s privilege, a right to confidentiality for government informants participating in federal investigations;

• Their whistleblower rights under the OSH Act;

• The most common OSHA violations in the poultry and meat processing industries;

• Other labor protections these workers have under the Fair Labor Standards Act, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, and the National Labor Relations Act, regardless of immigration status

On March 11, 2021, six weeks after the deadly nitrogen leak, Sur received urgent phone calls from FFG workers about an ammonia leak at the facility. Workers complained that the smell was very strong and was causing nausea, eye irritation, and headaches. Similar to what happened on the day of the nitrogen leak, most workers:

• Were not trained on what exit doors were available to get out of the building, as some of the doors were either locked or blocked by equipment, and therefore more than 100 workers used the same door to get out of the building;

• Were not trained after the nitrogen leak about the types of hazardous chemicals that are present at the facility;

• No alarm sounded to alert workers to the leak causing a delayed and chaotic exit from the building through a single exit. 

After the second toxic leak, Sur assisted a group of workers with filing two OSHA complaints, one of which was an imminent danger complaint, as workers were fearful that they too would fall victim to a toxic leak and would not be able to exit the building with only one available exit door. As a result of these complaints, OSHA attempted to conduct an inspection but was denied entry by the company. OSHA therefore obtained a warrant from a magistrate judge in the Northern District of Georgia and completed the inspection. However, the OSHA warrant remains a subject of litigation regarding the rights of companies like FFG to prevent OSHA from inspecting hazardous workplaces.