Meatpacking workers allege Hormel Foods violated sick leave law in class action lawsuit

AUSTIN, Minn. (Minnesota Reformer) — The union representing more than 1,600 Hormel workers in Austin announced a class action lawsuit on Wednesday alleging the meat processing giant violated Minnesota’s earned sick and safe time law for 14 months by forcing workers to use vacation time if they called in sick.

Minnesota’s sick and safe time law, passed under a Democratic trifecta in 2023, requires employers to provide one hour of paid leave for every 30 hours worked — up to six days per year for a full-time worker. Workers may use the time to recover from an illness, care for a sick loved one, seek safety from domestic abuse or because of weather-related closures.

Tim Louris, the attorney representing the workers, said Hormel refused to provide most of its production, maintenance and quality control employees with additional paid leave when the law took effect in 2024.

UFCW Local 663, the workers’ union, challenged Hormel and a labor arbitrator ruled earlier this year that the company could not use paid vacation to comply with the state law. The union called the lawsuit a “first of its kind.”

Louris said the company began following the law on March 1 but still owes workers compensation for robbing them of the benefit for more than a year. He could not provide an estimate for how much he believes workers are owed.

Hormel said in a statement it does not comment on pending litigation.

Longtime Hormel worker Dan Lenway — lead plaintiff in the lawsuit — said the law has been a lifeline for workers, who used to face disciplinary action for missing work due to illness.

“It means we don’t have to risk our jobs or our wages just to take care of our health or our families,” he said.

Senate Majority Leader Erin Murphy, DFL-St. Paul, stood alongside workers at the Austin Labor Center in support of their lawsuit and the state’s sick leave law.

“I don’t want to have to think about the sandwich that I’m going to eat … I want workers in our food industry to come to work healthy,” Murphy said.

The law has faced stiff resistance from many business leaders and Republicans, who with moderate Senate Democrats pushed to weaken the law this year. That effort largely failed, with the Legislature approving only minor tweaks to the rules.

(Story written by Max Nesterak – Minnesota Reformer)