Tyson Foods Inc. can’t dodge state law negligence claims after an appeals panel ruled that those allegations brought by the estate of an employee who died after allegedly contracting Covid-19 in its facility weren’t preempted by federal law.
The district court shouldn’t have dismissed them because the Poultry Products Inspection Act focuses on food safety matters and addresses the spread of infectious diseases through food contamination, Judge James L. Dennis, of the US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, wrote in reviving the estate of David Williams Sr.'s claims against Tyson Foods.
The case highlights a novel issue of ...