Fmr. Todd Greiner Farms Packers Sue Over Alleged 'Widespread Chemical Exposure,’ Working Conditions

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Two former Todd Greiner Farms workers allege they and more than 200 others on the asparagus packing line in 2019 were misled as to the harmful reactions they experienced due to “widespread chemical exposure.” 

The plaintiffs allege in the 24-page proposed class action that Todd Greiner Farms Packing, LLC is not only responsible for their exposure to known pesticides and hazardous chemicals amid long and strenuous hours of repetitive work, but also “ignored” workers’ complaints about their symptoms and misled the individuals into believing they were experiencing a “virus” instead of a reaction to chemicals.

The case, filed by attorneys with the Michigan Immigrant Rights Center and Sugar Law Center for Economic and Social Justice, alleges the defendants have violated the Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act (AWPA) and Michigan law by engaging in “intentional tort and fraud.” According to the suit, Todd Greiner Farms was the subject of a 2019 Michigan Occupational Safety and Health Agency (MIOSHA) investigation into reports of chemical exposure and lack of sufficient bathrooms at the facility where the plaintiffs and proposed class members worked. That investigation, the lawsuit says, yielded four citations against the defendants with regard to the number of toilet facilities available, lack of written hazardous chemical communications with employees, failure to identify the location of safety data sheets for hazardous chemicals and failure to identify the contents of piping systems that conveyed compressed air through the workspace. 

The suit states the MIOSHA investigation concluded roughly 200 workers at Todd Greiner Farms’ Jackson Ave. facility were exposed to Chlor-Clean 12.5, a chlorine sanitizer; Madisan 75 Quaternary Ammonium Chloride sanitizer; and Spectra Yellow, a chlorinated alkaline cleaner. 

“As a direct and proximate result of the negligent acts and omissions of the Defendants, the Plaintiffs and similarly situated persons suffered consequent injuries and damages,” the lawsuit alleges. 

According to the complaint, asparagus packers’ exposure symptoms included “headaches, dizziness, itchy throats, stinging and watery eyes,” and for one plaintiff a loss of consciousness that required emergency medical attention. The case alleges the plaintiffs and similarly situated employees, who worked out of the defendants’ W. Jackson Avenue facility in Hart, Michigan during the 2019 asparagus season, put in 12 hours per day, six to seven days per week, on the asparagus packing line with minimal breaks or bathroom usage while “performing the same motion repeatedly for countless hours” to meet the defendants’ demand. The suit says Todd Greiner Farms provided access to only four bathrooms for more than 200 packing warehouse employees. 

Per the case, Todd Greiner Farms operates two facilities in Hart, Michigan, located respectively at N. 128th Avenue and W. Jackson Avenue. The plaintiffs and proposed class members are migrant or seasonal agricultural employees who worked at the defendants’ Jackson Avenue packing and sorting warehouse during the 2019 asparagus season. The suit says the workers were tasked with sorting, packing and cleaning the asparagus with chemically treated water after it was harvested from the defendant’s fields. 

Around May 2019, the lawsuit says, the plaintiffs and other workers on the asparagus line began to smell “a strong chlorine-like chemical odor” in the Jackson facility’s packing room. The odor permeated the facility but was stronger the closer the workers were to the pipes that sprayed the asparagus with the chemically treated water, the complaint states. The odor was also more pungent the farther away the plaintiffs and others were from the entrance and exit of the packing room and stronger the mornings after the tanks containing the chemicals were cleaned, according to the case. The same month, the plaintiffs began experiencing “watery and puffy eyes, itchy throats, headaches, and itchy skin,” the lawsuit alleges. 

Per the suit, the plaintiffs were not the only workers to experience chemical exposure symptoms, as many similarly situated also worked amid the smell of the chemicals. Many of the symptoms experienced by proposed class members were similar to those of the plaintiffs, and complaints to a supervisor were answered with the response that there was nothing to be done, the lawsuit claims. 

Although asparagus packers began to wear disposable face masks as a result of the strong odor and symptoms they experienced, masks were often unavailable, and the defendants stopped providing the protective equipment around the end of May 2019, the suit says. According to the complaint, a supervisor around that time accused the plaintiffs and other workers of “exaggerating,” and told the individuals they’d need to buy their own masks. Around the end of May 2019, the individual defendant, a manager, came to the line floor and, through a supervisor speaking through a megaphone, told asparagus line workers that there was nothing wrong with the company’s chemicals and that they were experiencing a virus, like the flu. 

Thereafter, the suit goes on, proposed class members “continued to work with the strong odor smell and the accompanying symptoms, as they could not afford to leave their employment,” although some workers left their jobs as a result of the smell and related health effects, per the case.

The lawsuit alleges Todd Greiner Farms “knew or should have known” of the widespread symptoms the plaintiffs and other asparagus line workers were experiencing during the 2019 season yet provided no information, orally or in writing, with regard to the exact cleaning chemicals being used. Proposed class members were also not provided with adequate notice or warnings of the risks of using the cleaning chemicals or proper training and instructions for how to work safely in the presence of the substances, the suit claims.

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