[ad_1]
Article content continued
Armando Sallegue, 71, the father of another plant worker, died from the disease while visiting from the Philippines.
A representative of the company contacted the Quesada family a month after her father’s death and issued an apology but didn’t admit Cargill could have done more to avoid those tragedies, Ariana Quesada said Monday.
“All me and the family want is for Cargill to have accountability for their lack of action when they knew there were cases at the plant,” she said.
Her father had mentioned concerns about the lack of physical distancing at the facility and treated the situation “as something very unimportant,” said the teen.
Time, she said, hasn’t healed the trauma and sense of loss for her family.
“It gets harder, especially with the holidays when you really grasp his absence,” said Quesada.
“It’s very unsettling – every day we’re in survival mode, we’re not the same as we were.”
A class-action lawsuit has also been filed against Cargill through Guardian Law alleging the company failed to take “reasonable precautions” to protect workers at the start of the pandemic.
Father of four Quesada was an immigrant from Mexico who began working at Cargill in October 2007 and eventually volunteered to be a union shop steward.
“There’s a lot of people here with a long history with Benito, who had deep feelings for him,” said Mark Wells, legal counsel for United Food and Commercial Workers Local 401.
“It’s really critical that the family see there’s justice in a way that satisfies them, that Benito’s death is treated with the gravity it has for them. . . this is an important and brave step for them to take.”
[ad_2]
Source link
