COVID-19

This issue tracker focuses on federal statutes, regulations and other actions to address the impacts of COVID-19 on the U.S. agricultural and food sectors. Our goal is to provide a broad listing of statutes and regulations, but the litigation covered is not exhaustive and focuses on selected issues receiving national attention. This issue tracker covers the period from 2020 to present. 

Note: as of January 1, 2022, tracking developments encompassed by this section terminated.

10.13.21 – The U.S. House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis released a sixty-six (66) page report titled “Farmers to Families? An Investigation Into the Trump Administration’s Food Box Program.” As a result of the report’s contents, a referral letter to the USDA Office of Inspector General (OIG) states that “the Program was operated in a manner that created significant risks of fraud, waste and abuse” and requests “work to reclaim wasted funds for American taxpayers.” A summary of the reports’ finding is contained in the Select Subcommittee’s accompanying press release. The Select Subcommittee’s investigation began on Aug. 24, 2020, and the Farmers to Families Food Box Program was ended on May 31, 2021. 

3.11.21 – President Biden signed into law H.R. 1319, known as the “American Rescue Plan Act of 2021,” which appropriates approximately $1.9 trillion for various COVID-19 relief funding and authorizes multiple statutory initiatives and programs, including approximately $10.4 billion in aid and assistance to agriculture in various forms. USDA published a fact sheet on the law and its highlights, including allocation of $4 billion for debt relief for socially disadvantaged farmers and approximately $1 billion to create a racial equity commission, address longstanding discrimination across USDA programs and for other assistance to socially disadvantaged farmers. American Farm Bureau Federation Chief Economist John Newton also authored a summary available here.

12.27.20 – President Trump signed into law H.R. 133, known as the “Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021,” which appropriates $900 billion dollars in COVID-19 relief funding, approximately $13 billion of which represents aid to agriculture in various forms. That represent 1.4% of the total relief funding bill. The list of aid under USDA’s jurisdiction includes a gross amount of $11.2 billion allocated to the Office of the USDA Secretary for direct financial assistance to commodity producers. The balance is appropriated to various existing statutory programs benefiting agriculture. American Farm Bureau Federation Chief Economist John Newton and colleagues authored a detailed report breaking down the $13 billion, available here. Since the bill’s signing, USDA has announced the intended spending of $1.5 billion for a fifth round of the Farmers to Families Food Box Program. 

6.5.20 – President Donald Trump signed into law H.R. 7010, titled “Paycheck Protection Program Flexibility Act of 2020,” which amends the CARES Act. Its provisions include the following changes to the loan forgiveness criteria:
– Extends the covered period from June 30, 2020 to December 31, 2020 for eligible expenses reimbursable by PPP loans;
– Reduces the reimbursable payroll cost minimum from 75% to 60%, now allowing up to 40% of loan proceeds to be used for other eligible expenses such as rent, utilities,  or mortgage interest;  
– Loan forgiveness is not reduced in proportion to any workforce reductions if an employer can show: (a) inability to rehire former or hire qualified employees; or (b) an inability to return to February 15, 2020 levels of business activity due to compliance with federally-issued COVID-19 safety requirements or guidance;
– Establishes a 10-month payment deferral on unforgiven loans, calculated from the last day of the covered period—December 31, 2020;
– Allows loan forgiveness recipients to defer payroll taxes.

5.12.20 – The U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee conducted a legislative hearing titled “Examining Liability During the COVID-19 Pandemic,” providing a public discussion of employment and operational liability risks of COVID-19 disease transmission risk from operations, resumed or continuing, of all forms of businesses, including the production, processing and sales of agricultural commodities and food. In light of President Trump’s Executive Order 13917, meat processing plants are the “bellwether” business sector presently incurring such disease transmission liability risks (the hearing begins at approx. the 23-minute mark). Testifying were: (a) the President of the United Food and Commercial Workers International; the Executive Director of the National Employment Law Project; the General Counsel of Texas Christian University; the CEO of Kwik Chek Food Stores on behalf of the National Association of Convenience Stores; Georgetown University Law Professor David Vladeck; CEO of the Charleston Area Convention and Visitors Bureau.

4.24.20 – President Donald Trump signed into law the Paycheck Protection Program and Health Care Enhancement Act, H.R. 266, P.L. No. 116-139, (Enhancement Act). This legislation provides, among other things, an additional appropriation of $310 billion, with $60 million set aside for smaller lending institutions (less than $50 billion in assets), for the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), and an appropriation of $60 billion for the Economic Injury Disaster Advance Loan (EIDL) and grant programs. The legislation grants new EIDL eligibility for agricultural businesses. The PPP appropriation replenishes the initial funding of $349 billion in the March 27, 2020 Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, (CARES Act) which was exhausted by April 15, 2020, closing the application process. The PPP application period officially re-opened on April 27, 2020.

3.27.20 – Congress passed and the President signed the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, (CARES Act), H.R. 748 (P.L. 116-136), providing, among other things, a second batch of additional changes to employment laws impacting agricultural employers and employees.

3.18.20 – Congress enacted and the President signed the Families First Coronavirus Response Act, H.R. 6201 (P.L. 116-127), providing among other things, appropriations to USDA for the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC); and the Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP), and multiple changes to employment laws impacting agricultural employers and employees.

3.6.20 – President Donald Trump signed the Coronavirus Preparedness and Response Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2020, H.R. 6074 (P.L. 116-123), providing $8.3 billion in emergency funding, which includes appropriations for several Small Business Administration (SBA) financial assistance and loan programs for which agricultural producers are eligible.

Note: as of January 1, 2022, tracking developments encompassed by this section terminated.

1. White House

1.25.21 – President Joe Biden issued a proclamation, titled “Proclamation on the Suspension of Entry as Immigrants and Non-Immigrants of Certain Additional Persons Who Pose a Risk of Transmitting Coronavirus Disease,” published in the Federal Register (86 FR 7467), prohibiting entry into the United States by persons who, during the 14-day period preceding attempted entry, were physically present within the Schengen Area, the United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland, the Federal Republic of Brazil, and the Republic of South Africa. 

4.28.20 – President Donald Trump issued an Executive Order, titled “Delegating Authority Under the DPA with Respect to Food Supply Chain Resources During the National Emergency Caused by the Outbreak of COVID-19.” This Executive Order delegates authority to USDA Secretary Sonny Perdue “to ensure the continued supply of meat and poultry” by taking “all appropriate action” under the Defense Production Act of 1950, as amended (50 U.S.C App. 2061 et seq.) (DPA), “to ensure that meat and poultry processors continue operations consistent with the guidance for their operation” issued on April 26, 2020 by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). The joint CDC/OSHA guidance referenced is titled “Meat and Poultry Processing Workers and Employers – Interim Guidance from CDC and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)” and provides operational guidance for meat and poultry processing workers and employers “in the setting of COVID-19 occurring among workers or in the surrounding community.”

2. U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)

1.13.22 – USDA Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) announced an extension of the application deadline for the $665 million Farm and Food Worker Relief Grant Program from Feb. 8, 2022 until Mar. 10, 2022. This application process is to award grants of $5,000,000 to $50,000,000 of Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021 funds to government entities, non profits or others who demonstrate the capacity to reimburse individual farmworkers and meatpacking workers for up to $600 for expenses incurred due to the COVID-19 pandemic. At least $20 million will be set aside for a separate process to make up $600 payments to grocery store workers. 

12.13.21 – USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA) announced the Spot Market Hog Pandemic Program (SMHPP), which will compensate producers who sold hogs through a negotiated sale between Apr. 16, 2020 and September 1, 2020 $54 per head up to 10,000 head. To be eligible, an applicant must be a U.S. citizen or resident alien with U.S.-based production facilities, have an average adjusted gross income (AGI) of less than $900,000 for tax years 2016, 2017, and 2018, and maintain conservation compliance. Eligible producers may apply at their local FSA office beginning Dec. 15, 2021 through Feb. 25, 2022 – later extended throughApr. 29, 2022. 

11.18.21 – USDA announced that it has begun issuing approximately $270 million in payments to contract growers of broilers, pullets, layers, chicken eggs, turkeys, hogs and pigs, ducks, geese, pheasants and quail under the Pandemic Assistance for Producers programs. While the funding was contained in Dec. 27, 2020’s Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021, providing up to $1 billion for payments to contract producers for revenue losses from Jan. 1, 2020 through Dec. 27, 2020, the implementation was slower than other pandemic aid programs.

11.10.21 –  USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) announced that it is accepting applications from state agencies, tribal entities and non-profit agricultural worker organizations for the Farm and Food Workers Relief Grant Program. Eligible entities may apply for grants from $5 million to $50 million to reimburse farm and meatpacking workers up to $600 for COVID-19 related expenses. Entities must show their ability to connect with hard-to-reach worker populations and partner with other local organizations to administer payments. The application period closes Feb. 8, 2022. 

9.16.21 – USDA extended the Sep. 17, 2021 deadline for applications for the Pandemic Livestock Indemnity Program (PLIP) to Oct. 12, 2021. PLIP provides producers payments of 80% of the fair market value of livestock and poultry, for the cost of depopulation and disposal, and for livestock or poultry depopulated from Mar. 1, 2020 through Dec. 26, 2020, due to insufficient processing access due to COVID-19. 

9.9.21 – USDA announced that the application period for $650 million in Pandemic Response and Safety (PRS) Grants will open Sep. 13, 2021 and close Nov. 8, 2021. PRS grants provide funds for farmer markets and specialty crop producers, food processors, manufacturers, and distributors qualifying as small businesses under U.S. Small Business Administration standards for coronavirus response expenditures. Eligible expenses include workplace modifications to protect against COVID-19, personal protective equipment, online platform development, and worker transportation, housing, and medical costs associated with COVID-19 prevention and treatment. USDA expects to issue 200,000 grants directly to small businesses, ranging from $1,500 to $20,000. Additionally, USDA announced $50 million for the Seafood Processors Pandemic Response and Safety (SPRS) Block Grant Program available to state agencies. 

9.7.21 – USDA announced $700 million for the Farmworker and Food Worker Relief Grant Program. The program will provide $5 to $50 million grants to state agencies, non-profit groups, and Tribal entities that serve farm, meatpacking, and/or grocery workers, who may then receive up to $600 each for coronavirus-related expenses, including costs for personal protective equipment, COVID-19 testing, and childcare. USDA is reserving $20 million for a front-line grocery worker pilot program. Organizations must demonstrate connections with hard-to-reach worker populations and describe their plan to work with smaller organizations to administer funding to farm and food workers. USDA will open the Request for Application through grants.gov in early fall and provide additional information at that time. Once available, the application will be open for 60 days. 

9.1.21 -8.25.21 – USDA Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) published in the Federal Register an interim rule providing details of the $400 million Dairy Donation Program (DDP). Under the program, dairy cooperatives and processors who partner with the charitable food system for milk and dairy product donations or discounting may apply for processing, transportation, and other cost reimbursements. Due to the availability of reimbursement, tax deductibility of any amounts are uncertain. The rule became effective on Sep. 2, 2021, and will expire within two years unless extended.  

8.24.21 – USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA) announced changes to the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program 2 (CFAP 2), which is funded with $1 billion from the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021. Under CFAP 2, contract poultry, egg and livestock producers, and producers of “sales-based commodities” (mostly specialty crops) may modify existing or file new applications by Oct. 12, 2021, using either 2018 or 2019 in measuring 2020 lost revenue. The changes were formally published as a Final Rule (86 FR 48013) on Aug. 27, 2021, the rule’s effective date. 

8.24.21 – USDA announced that it will dedicate $300 million in American Rescue Plan Act funding to support animal-based SARS-CoV-2 and other emerging zoonotic disease surveillance and for implementation of a zoonotic disease early warning system. Additionally, USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) published its Strategic Framework for conducting surveillance in susceptible animals. Under the framework, APHIS will survey a wide variety of animal species, including farmed animals, wildlife, peridomestic species, and companion animal and focus on disease detection through partnerships with government and industry entities. USDA will host a webinar series (Aug. 31, Sep. 1, Sep. 8, and Sep. 15, 2021) for interested stakeholders before submitting public comments on the framework by the Oct. 8, 2021 deadline. 

8.19.21 – USDA announced the Pandemic Market Volatility Assistance Program. The program will initially distribute $350 million in dairy producer lost revenue reimbursement suffered in July-December 2020 due to: (a) dairy market and pricing abnormalities; (b) the unintended consequence of large negative Class I producer price differential calculations from a change in price formula made via the 2018 Farm Bill; and (c) precipitous Class I and Class III federal pool revenue shortfalls under existing Federal Milk Marketing Orders (FMMO). USDA stated that the program in its entirety will ultimately provide over $2 billion for dairy industry pandemic relief and will be administered under the umbrella of USDA-Agricultural Marketing Service’s Dairy Program. The initial eligible reimbursement will be for 80 percent of the revenue difference per month (based on annual production) on volume up to 5 million pounds. The payment rate will vary by FMMO based on the actual losses on pooled milk. USDA will make payments through agreements with independent handlers and cooperatives, who will be reimbursed for administrative costs and will distribute the monies on the same basis as July – December 2020 producer payments were made. USDA will communicate with eligible handlers and cooperatives on participation terms and will distribute payments within 60 days of entering into an agreement. Producer payments must be made in 30 days thereafter.

7.21.21 – USDA Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) released the documentation for the second round of solicitation for the Emergency Food Assistance Program Fresh Produce Packages, Solicitation 2000007948, (12-3J14-21-B-0464), which replaces the Farm to Families Food Box Program. USDA posted a training video on how to submit a bid and the bid deadline is 12:00pm EST, Wednesday Aug. 4, 2021.

7.20.21 – USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA) announced the Pandemic Assistance for Timber Harvesters and Haulers Program (PATHH), which will provide payments to timber harvesters and haulers for COVID 19-related losses. USDA FSA will administer the program in partnership with the U.S. Forest Service. Eligible applicants are timber harvesting or hauling businesses with 50% or more of gross revenue from cutting, processing, or transporting timber. As applications are approved, FSA will issue a first payment of the lesser of 80% of the difference between the applicant’s 2019 and 2020 gross revenues or $2,000. FSA will issue a second payment after the application period closes based on leftover funds but will not pay more than the $125,000 maximum to any person or entity directly. USDA encourages applications from businesses with a 10% gross revenue loss between the 2019 and 2020 calendar years. The application runs from Jul. 22, 2021, through Oct. 15, 2021. 

7.13.21 – USDA announced the Pandemic Livestock Indemnity Program, funded by the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021, which will provide payments to producers for the cost of depopulation and disposal of livestock and poultry lost between Mar. 1, 2020 and Dec. 26, 2020, due to lack of access to processing facilities as a result of the pandemic. USDA will pay producers 80% of the fair market value for eligible livestock and poultry, including swine, chickens, and turkey. According to USDA, however, pork producers are expected to be the primary recipients. Producers may apply with USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA) from Jul. 20, 2021, through Sep. 17, 2021. Contract growers, packers, and live poultry dealers are not eligible for payments. 

6.15.21 – USDA announced $2.6 billion in additional funding under the agency’s Pandemic Assistance for Producers programs. According to the announcement, the agency has allocated funds as follows: small timber businesses – $200 million; biofuel producers – $700 million; Dairy Donation Program – $400 million; Supplemental Dairy Margin Coverage – $580 million, and organic cost share assistance – $20 million. Additionally, USDA has allocated $700 million for Pandemic Response and Safety Grants, which will reimburse producers for worker protection efforts and purchases of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE). USDA states that it will proceed with the announced funding assistance within 60 days. 

6.4.21 – USDA announced $1 billion in funding for food purchases through The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP) sourced from the American Rescue Plan Act and the 2021 Consolidated Appropriations Act. According to the announcement, USDA Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) will purchase up to $900 million in local and domestically produced food for food bank networks through TEFAP and $100 million will be made available for food bank infrastructure grants, administered by USDA Food and Nutrition Service (FNS). No detailed information has been yet released about the grant program. 

4.26.21 – USDA issued the new solicitation for TEFAP Fresh Produce Procurement, which is intended in part to be the replacement for the discontinued Farmer to Families Food Box Program. The program uses the existing AMS Master Solicitation for Commodity Procurements for Domestic Food Distribution Programs Purchases. Bids are due by May 7, 2021, acceptances will be announced on May 8, 2021 and deliveries are to be made between Jun. 1, 2021 through Sep. 30, 2021. All solicitation documents and instructions are contained here and instruction video from USDA-AMS-Commodity Procurement Program, Contracting Officer is available here. 

4.14.21 – According to statements made by Secretary Tom Vilsack posted to USDA website, the Farmer to Families Box Program will be terminated at the close of April 2021 when the current funded vendor contracts end. Reuters reported that USDA Communications Director Matt Herrick stated USDA is focused on different hunger initiatives, including expanding food stamp benefits and increasing food purchases through existing government food distribution programs. USDA released on Apr. 9, 2021, a Pre-Solicitation Announcement informing potential vendors that the Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP) would be funding purchases of fruits and vegetables for boxes to be distributed through TEFAP until Sep. 30, 2021 and containing details on vendor qualifications and participation in a solicitation once it is issued. In addition, USDA published a notice on Apr. 13, 2021, that it would soon implement a new $400 million Dairy Donation Program (DDP) authorized in the Consolidated Appropriation Act of 2021, to facilitate timely donation of dairy products to the charitable food system. The DDP regulations have not yet been published, but minimum requirements are contained in the announcement, including information on donor reimbursement which can be retroactive under the Act. Regarding reimbursement, USDA stated that “dairy organizations can plan on a rate of reimbursement equal to the minimum classified value of the milk when the donated product was processed.”

3.24.21 – USDA announced its new $6 billion financial assistance initiative, USDA Pandemic Assistance for Producers. Combining existing programs with new spending, the initiative aims to resolve disparities in previous assistance distribution through a four-part agenda: 1) $6 billion in Consolidated Appropriations Act and unspent coronavirus funds for new program spending, including assistance for the Dairy Donation Program, biofuels, specialty crops, and farmworker personal protective equipment; 2) $500 million in additional existing program spending, including the Specialty Crop Block Grant Program and the Local Agricultural Marketing Program; 3) continuation of the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program (CFAP) payments, including rate increases and automatic payments for cattle producers, price trigger crop producers, and flat-rate crop producers with eligible CFAP 1 or CFAP 2 applications; and 4) advancing the CFAP 2 program through $2.5 million in outreach and promotional spending and reopening the CFAP 2 application window for at least 60 days, beginning April 5, 2021. According to the announcement, for USDA initiative efforts that require rulemaking, the agency will begin the rulemaking process this spring 2021.

3.8.21 – USDA Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) announced that it seeks public comment on the development, coordination and implementation of grant programs authorized by the $1.5 billion appropriation contained in the 2021 Consolidated Appropriations Act to: (a) purchase food and agricultural products to distribute to individuals in need; (b) for grants and loans to small or midsized food processors or distributors, farmers markets, producers, or other organizations to respond to coronavirus; and (c) measures to protect workers against COVID-19. 

2.25.21 – USDA updated its webpage titled “Coronavirus Food Assistance Program – Additional Assistance” to reflect that the Feb. 26, 2021 program signup deadline has been eliminated. Previously, USDA announced its suspension of payments under the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program (CFAP). According to the webpage, USDA continues a review of the program and will keep accepting applications throughout its review process. USDA states that once it announces a decision regarding CFAP, producers will have at least an additional 30 days to apply. 

2.18.21 – USDA and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a joint statement to underscore that there is no credible evidence suggesting that COVID-19 is contracted or transmitted through food or food packaging. This statement is consistent with the findings of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which states that the risk of getting sick with COVID-19 from eating or handling food (including frozen food and produce) and food packages is considered very low. FDA and USDA emphasize that COVID-19, unlike foodborne or gastrointestinal viruses, such as norovirus and hepatitis A, is a respiratory illness spread through person-to-person contact, not contaminated food. The agencies state that consumers should be reassured that “the foods they eat and food packaging they touch are highly unlikely to spread SARS CoV-2.”

1.27.21 – USDA updated its Coronavirus Food Assistance Program (CFAP) webpage with a message stating that the agency has temporarily halted, until further notice, implementation of its Jan. 19, 2021 rule, “Coronavirus Food Assistance Program; Additional Assistance” (86 FR 4877). According to the webpage, the agency has suspended CFAP payments under the rule in accordance with the Jan. 20, 2021 White House memo Regulatory Freeze Pending Review, which calls for the suspension or postponement of substantive agency actions submitted to Federal Register until further review and approval by a designated presidential appointee or representative, including those actions “undertaken before noon on January 20, 2021” which may “frustrate the purpose” of the memorandum. Producers may continue to submit CFAP applications to their local Farm Service Agency (FSA) offices during the review period.

1.26.21 – USDA announced that it will suspend, until further notice, collections and foreclosures on Farm Service Agency (FSA)-administered Direct Farm Loans and Farm Storage Facility Loans. According to the announcement, USDA will suspend wage garnishments and non-judicial foreclosures. The agency will also refrain from referring foreclosures to the Department of Justice (DOJ) and will cooperate with the U.S. Attorney’s Office to halt evictions and judicial foreclosures on previously referred accounts. Additionally, USDA has extended the deadlines for borrowers to apply for loan deferrals and respond to loan servicing actions. USDA states that it expects to continue this action, which applies to about 10% of all FSA borrowers, throughout the COVID-19 disaster declaration. 

1.19.21 – USDA published in the Federal Register a final rule titled “Coronavirus Food Assistance Program; Additional Assistance” (86 FR 4877). Previously announced by the Department on Jan. 15, 2021, the final rule expands commodity and producer eligibility and updates payment calculations for the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program (CFAP). According to the announcement, producers of pullets and turfgrass sod, along with contract producers of swine, broilers, laying hens, chicken eggs and turkeys, are now eligible for CFAP payments. Also, the payment calculation for sale commodities (generally specialty crops and green industry products) have been altered. Producers may submit a new or modified CFAP2 application to USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA) through their local office until Feb. 26, 2021. 

1.4.21 – USDA announced a fifth round of food purchases of $1.5 billion for the Farmers to Families Food Box Program. The funding of this fifth round was provided through the COVID-19 relief funding legislation signed into law on Dec. 27, 2020, the Consolidated Appropriations Act. USDA will solicit offers from more than 240 suppliers with previous Basic Ordering Agreements (BOA) and issue awards by Jan. 19, 2021. USDA states that it will amend the BOA to include pre-cooked seafood products, which may now be combined with pre-cooked beef, pork, chicken, and turkey, along with egg products, to satisfy descriptive weight designations. USDA also has specified that, in addition to cheddar and other previously specified cheeses, the food boxes may contain “other hard, semi-firm, [and] semi-soft cheese,” including Blue, Brick, Colby, Edam, Gorgonzola, Gouda, Gruyere, Monterey, Muenster, Parmesan, Provolone and Romano. Food box deliveries will begin after contract awards are issued and will continue through April 2021. 

12.30.20 – USDA Risk Management Agency (RMA) announced extended deadlines for various crop insurance requirements in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Specifically, the ability of Approved Insurance Providers (AIP) and agents to send electronic notifications and utilize digital signatures with policy holders for sales closing, production reporting, and acreage reporting deadlines has been extended through Jul. 15, 2021. Also, the accommodations for organic certification allowing reporting of certified organic acreage, replant self-certification (increasing the acreage of self-certification replant inspections from 50 to 100), and assignment of indemnity (allowing use of digital signatures and waiving witness requirements) have been extended through Jun. 30, 2021. Additionally, producer signatures may be accepted after the expiration date until Aug. 2, 2021. 

10.23.20 – USDA announced an additional $500 million in funding for a fourth round of the Farmers to Families Food Box Program, authorized by the Families First Coronavirus Response Act, P.L. 116-127. The fourth round of the program adheres to the same purchasing priorities as the third round-fresh produce, meat, dairy, and milk. USDA stated that it anticipates awarding contracts by Oct. 30, 2020 for food box deliveries from Nov. 1, 2020 through Dec. 31, 2020.

9.18.20 – USDA announced a second round of $14 billion in funding for the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program, now designated as CFAP 2. The new iteration of the program establishes three categories of commodities.

• Price Trigger Commodities – defined as “major commodities that meet a minimum 5-percent price decline over a specified period of time.” Payments vary by commodity, production, and market rate.
• Flat-Rate Crops – defined as “crops that either do not meet the 5-percent price decline trigger or do not have data available to calculate a price change.” Flat-rate crops include hemp for the first time in CFAP. Payments will be $15 per acre, calculated using eligible 2020 acres.
• Sales Commodities – crops other than price-trigger commodities and flat-rate crops. Payments will be based on 2019 sales.

Applications for the program will be accepted beginning Sep. 21, 2020 through Dec. 11, 2020.

8.25.20 – USDA announced up to $1 billion in additional funding for a third round of the Farmers to Families Food Box Program funding, as authorized by the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (Public Law No. 116-127, Mar. 18, 2020). USDA also published a list of entities already awarded agreements for its third round of Food Box distributions based upon previous agreement terms. The first and second rounds covered the periods of May 15, 2020 – June 30, 2020 and July 1, 2020 – August 31, 2020, respectively. Submissions for the third round can be made immediately and there is no submission deadline. The performance period runs until August 15, 2022, converting the program to an open-ended standing list of contractors eligible for participation throughout the next two years, regardless of additional funding subsequently added.

8.14.20 – USDA published in the Federal Register two rules: “Notification of Funding Availability; Coronavirus Food Assistance Program (CFAP) Additional Eligible Commodities” (85 FR 49589) and “Coronavirus Food Assistance Program; Correction” (85 FR 49593). According to USDA’s August 10, 2020 announcement, the two rules expand CFAP eligibility to additional commodities and extend the application deadline for the program until September 11, 2020. Going forward, approved producers who have already received 80% of their eligible payment will automatically receive the remaining 20% and new producers first applying for CFAP, USDA will issue 100% of their eligible payment amount upon approval. USDA lists the following commodities now eligible for the program:

• Specialty crops: aloe leaves, bananas, batatas, bok choy, carambola (star fruit), cherimoya, chervil (French parsley), citron, curry leaves, daikon, dates, dill, donqua (winter melon), dragon fruit (red pitaya), endive, escarole, filberts, frisee, horseradish, kohlrabi, kumquats, leeks, mamey sapote, maple sap (for maple syrup), mesculin mix, microgreens, nectarines, parsley, persimmons, plantains, pomegranates, pummelos, pumpkins, rutabagas, shallots, tangelos, turnips/celeriac, turmeric, upland/winter cress, water cress, yautia/malanga, and yuca/cassava.
• Non-specialty crops and livestock: liquid eggs, frozen eggs and all sheep. Only lambs and yearlings (sheep less than two years old) were previously eligible.
• Aquaculture: catfish, crawfish, largemouth bass and carp sold live as foodfish, hybrid striped bass, red drum, salmon, sturgeon, tilapia, trout, ornamental/tropical fish, and recreational sportfish.
• Nursery crops and flowers: nursery crops and cut flowers.

7.10.20 – USDA published in the Federal Register two new rules that qualify additional commodities and correct payment rates for the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program (CFAP): i) Notice of Funding Availability for additional eligible commodities and ii) Coronavirus Food Assistance Program; Correction to specialty crop payment rates. The new rules, announced on Jul. 9, 2020, qualify more than 40 commodities for CFAP payments and expands payments for seven currently eligible commodities. Additionally, the new rules disqualify peaches and rhubarb from “CARES Act sales loss” payments going forward.

6.10.20 – USDA Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) announced the issuance of a Nationwide Waiver to Extend Eligibility Waivers through August 31, 2020 for the Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) and the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) Seamless Summer Option (SSO) as part of USDA’s COVID-19 response efforts. While USDA supported summer meals are typically restricted to low-income areas, the nationwide area eligibility waive allows all children to receive free meals, regardless of their location.

5.22.20 – USDA Rural Business-Cooperative Service announced the publication in the Federal Register of: (a) an interim final rule, titled “Guaranteed Loanmaking and Servicing Regulations,” (85 FR 31035); and (b) a Notice of Funding Availability, titled “The Business and Industry Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act) Guaranteed Loan Program” (85 FR 31139). Combined, these actions provide new CARES Act funding and rechristen the existing Business and Industry (B&I) Guaranteed Loan Program as the Business and Industry (B&I) CARES Act Program. The program will provide up to $1 billion in loan guarantees to rural businesses and agricultural producers ineligible for USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA) loans to “prevent, prepare for and respond to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.” The application period is immediately open and closes on September 15, 2021 or until program funds are exhausted All B&I CARES Act Program funds expire September 30, 2021.

5.19.20 – U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue announced the direct payments portion of the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program (RIN 0503-AA65), which will provide $16 billion in direct payments to producers of wool, livestock, dairy, and specialty and non-specialty crops who have experienced a “five-percent-or-greater price decline due to COVID-19.” Payments are limited to $250,000 “per person or entity” with exceptions for corporate entities of up to three shareholders who “contribute[] substantial labor or management” to operations. USDA will accept applications for assistance beginning May 26, 2020 through August 28, 2020.

5.18.20 – USDA and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), MOU 225-20-011, which outlines how the agencies shall cooperate in the event that USDA exercises the Presidential authority delegated to it in Executive Order 13917 to utilize Defense Production Act powers beyond meat and poultry production and processing. Executive Order 13917 contains language that permits USDA to identify “specific additional food supply chain resources,” deem them “essential to national defense” and utilize delegated Defense Production Act powers with regard to those industries also. Meat and poultry production and processing are solely under the jurisdiction of USDA, but should other food production and processing sectors become subject to Defense Production Act authority, FDA may have primary or exclusive regulatory jurisdiction over involved facilities. Accordingly, USDA and FDA created the MOU for collaboration regarding such facilities.

5.8.20 – USDA Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) announced the awarding of $1.2 billion in contracts to purchase and distribute agricultural commodities to food insecure U.S. residents via the newly-renamed “Farmers to Families Food Box” Program. This program was announced on April 17, 2020 and funded by a $3 billion appropriation from the Families First Coronavirus Response Act enacted on March 27, 2020. Pennsylvania-based vendors entering contracts with AMS are: ALL Holding Company, LLC of Harleysville ($18,000, Precooked Meat Box); Brian Campbell Farms of Berwick ($900,000 – Fresh Fruit/Fresh Vegetable Box); Dertstine’s Inc. of Sellersville (approx. $5.8 million – Fresh Fruit/Fresh Vegetable, Dairy, Precooked Meat and Fluid Milk Boxes); Farm to Table by Local Pittsburgh ($280,000 – Fresh Fruit/Fresh Vegetable, Dairy, Fluid Milk and Combination Boxes); John Vena, Inc. of Pittsburgh ($1.8 million – Fresh Fruit/Fresh Vegetable Box); Marburger Farm Dairy of Evans City (approx. $78,000 – Fluid Milk Box); Monteverde’s Inc. of Pittsburgh (approx. $1.4 million – Fresh Fruit/Fresh Vegetable Box); Novick Brothers Corp. of Philadelphia (approx. $500,000 – Dairy and Fluid Milk Boxes); Paragon Wholesale Foods (approx. $3.8 million – Fresh Fruit/Vegetable Box); Schneider Dairy, Inc. of Pittsburgh ($4.27 million – Dairy and Fluid Milk Boxes); Stanley Marvel, Inc. of Bensalem (approx. $14.4 million – Dairy, Precooked Meat, Combination, Fluid Milk Boxes); T.M. Kovacevich of Philadelphia (approx. $2 million – Fresh Fruit/Vegetable Box); Turner Dairy Farms, Inc. of Pittsburgh (approx. $315,000 – Dairy Box).

5.5.20 – U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue issued two letters, in lieu of formal action under May 1, 2020’s Executive Order (EO) 13917, on the issue of continued meat processing plant operations in light of COVID-19 transmission risks. The first letter was to meat and poultry processing plants and the second was to all fifty state Governors. The letter to meat processing plants stated, in pertinent part: (a) Effective immediately, plants should utilize the joint CDC/OSHA guidance referenced in EO 13917 to implement practices and protocols for safeguarding workers and the community “while staying operational or resuming operations;” (b) Plants “contemplating reductions of operations or recently closed since Friday May 1,” and “without a clear timetable for resuming near-term operations,” “should submit written documentation to USDA of their operations and health and safety protocols;” (c) Plants “should resume operations as soon as they are able;” and (d) “[F]urther action under the Executive Order and the Defense Production Act is under consideration and will be taken if necessary.” The letter to Governors, in pertinent part, stated: (a) “I understand that State and local leaders are working diligently to protect and maintain the wellbeing of their citizens;” (b) “It is essential that we work together to ensure the health and safety” of plant workers; (c) USDA “will continue to work with State and local officials to ensure that facilities are implementing best practices;” and (d) “Further action under the Executive Order and Defense Production Act is under consideration and will be taken if necessary.” Thus far, USDA Secretary Perdue has not issued any publicly disclosed mandatory directives to meat processing plants utilizing the EO 13917 Defense Production Act delegation of legal authority from the President.  Therefore, there has also been no known occasions of conflict between such actions and the legal authority over the health and well-being of their populations reserved to state and/or local governments under the Tenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. 

4.17.20 – USDA announced the administrative creation of the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program, utilizing $19 billions of Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES) and Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) authority and appropriations. The program’s primary initiatives are titled (1) Direct Support to Farmers and Ranchers; and (2) USDA Purchase and Distribution. The Direct Support program will use $16 million for producer compensation for 2020 marketing year actual losses resulting from price, supply chain, demand, and over-supply impacts of COVID-19. The USDA Purchase program will use $3 billion to purchase three categories of food from producers (fresh produce, dairy, and meat) to distribute through the existing charitable food system via a “food box” composed of all three commodities. In addition, two additional funding allocations of $874 million and $859 million will be used for traditional charitable food system commodity distribution. No regulatory information about the program has been published in the Federal Register or elsewhere at this time. USDA Secretary Perdue conducted a 30-minute media call on the program on April 17, 2020, which is available on USDA’s website. A press release from Senator John Hoeven, Chairman of the Senate Agriculture Appropriations Committee, includes further details of the Direct Support program.

4.17.20 – As part of the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program, USDA Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) created a webpage exclusively devoted to the Food Box Distribution Program with links to existing procurement and solicitation information for food producers seeking to become vendors for the program. On April 22, 2020, Penn State Extension also published a webpage, titled “How to Bid for the USDA Food Box Distribution Program,” detailing what is known about the procurement process to date, including notification that an initial solicitation for bids is slated to be issued April 24, 2020, with a May 1, 2020, submission deadline.

3. U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS)

4.20.20 – The U.S. Department of Homeland Security published a Temporary Final Rule, titled “Temporary Changes to Requirements Affecting H-2A Nonimmigrants Due to the COVID-19 National Emergency,” effective from April 20, 2020 through August 18, 2020, which makes two material temporary changes to current H-2A program administration. The first is that an H-2A employer with a valid temporary labor certification may begin employing H-2A workers currently in the United States with valid H-2A visa status, starting on the date the employer files an extension-of-stay petition. This means employers may obtain workers more expediently and H-2A workers already in the country may more easily change employers and stay in the United States for the 2020 growing season. The second change is that the three-year maximum stay for H-2A is workers temporarily extended, in order to enable extension-of-stay petitions to be granted during this period.

4. U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ)

5.15.20 – The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) issued a Business Review Letter responding to a request seeking antitrust clearance for hog euthanasia from the National Pork Producers Council (NPPC). In its request, the NPCC described the “need to euthanize … approximately 700,000 hogs per week,” explaining that decreased restaurant and foodservice demand is causing hogs to exceed 330 pounds and surpass production equipment capacities, thus becoming unmarketable. In its letter, DOJ stated it “does not presently intend to challenge” NPPC’s Proposed Conduct to issue producer euthanasia guidance in conjunction with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, although the department specified it “reserves the right to challenge the conduct in the future if it is later revealed to be anticompetitive in purpose or effect.” DOJ stated that its enforcement intentions are effective for one year.

5. U.S. Department of Labor (DOL)

1.25.22 – The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) published in the Federal Register an Interim Final Rule withdrawing the Nov. 5, 2021 COVID-19 Vaccination and Testing Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS), effective January 26, 2022, which obligated employers with 100 or more employees to require their employees to either receive the COVID-19 vaccine or undergo regular COVID-19 testing and wear a mask in the workplace. According to the Interim Rule, although the withdrawal removes the ETS as an emergency temporary standard, OSHA states that it “is not withdrawing the ETS to the extent that it serves as a proposed rule . . . and [the] action does not affect the ETS’s status as a proposal . . . or otherwise affect the status of the notice-and-comment rulemaking commenced by the Vaccination and Testing ETS.” OSHA’s ETS withdrawal comes after the U.S Supreme Court’s Jan. 13, 2022, ruling which stayed enforcement of the ETS pending a challenge to the rule in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. MCP No. 165, OSHA Covid Rule, No. 21-7000. 

11.5.21 – The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) published in the Federal Register, “COVID-19 Vaccination and Testing; Emergency Temporary Standard” (86 FR 61402), an interim final rule that consists of an emergency temporary standard (ETS) immediately effective requiring employers of 100 or more employees by Dec. 5, 2021, to “develop, implement, and enforce a mandatory COVID-19 vaccination policy, with an exception for employers that instead adopt a policy requiring employees to either get vaccinated or elect to undergo regular COVID-19 testing and wear a face covering at work in lieu of vaccination.” A public comment period on the ETS closes on Dec. 6, 2021 (OSHA-2021-0007). Information is available on OSHA’s dedicated webpage about the ETS, including webinars, FAQs and employment policy templates. The ETS does not mention the so-called “agricultural exemption” from OSHA enforcement for employers with 10 or less employees and no employer-supplied housing. However, an OSHA ETS could not legally supersede that act of the U.S. Congress. That same day, multiple challenges, which included emergency motions requesting the ETS be stayed temporary and permanently, were filed by numerous parties, including state governments and state attorneys, in numerous federal courts across the country. 

8.13.21 – The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) updated its COVID-19 workplace guidance to address “higher-risk workplaces with mixed-vaccination status workers,” which specifically includes agricultural, meat, seafood, and poultry processing sites and “high-volume retail and grocery.” The guidance recommends that workers maintain a six-foot distance and wear masks.  Additionally, OSHA recommends that employers ensure proper ventilation or relocate work outdoors when possible, provide signs and floor markings to help workers maintain distance, install physical barriers made of plastic or acrylic between workers, and stagger workers’ breaks and arrival times.

4.26.21 – The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) submitted to the White House an Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) for the prevention of workplace COVID-19 transmission. President Biden’s Jan. 21, 2021 Executive Order on Protecting Worker Health and Safety directed DOL OSHA to decide upon the necessity of an ETS and submit it to the White House by Mar. 15, 2021, but that action was long-delayed without official explanation. An ETS on this topic would represent the first mandatory federal government workplace requirement specifically addressing COVID-19 transmission since the onset of the pandemic in 2020. The draft standard is presently under review by the Office of Management and Budget Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs for publication. OSHA emergency temporary standards are only authorized by law to be effective for six months and, when issued, this will be the first ETS issued since 1983. The legal authority for OSHA to dispense the formal regulation promulgation process requires a showing that “workers are in grave danger due to exposure to toxic substances or agents determined to be toxic or physically harmful or to new hazards.” 

3.12.21 – The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) issued an enforcement memorandum for regional OSHA administrators and state OSHA plan designees titled “Updated Interim Enforcement Response Plan for Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19),” which outlines the agency’s new National Emphasis Program (NEP), established by DIR 2021-01 (CPL-03), also issued the same day. The NEP provides guidance to compliance officers and area offices for addressing COVID-19 reports and prioritizes on-site inspection and enforcement in high-risk settings where employees work in close contact, including “meat, poultry, and other food processing,” and high-volume retail settings. Effective upon publication, the NEP specifies that targeted inspections begin on March 26, 2021. The NEP is in response to the Jan. 21, 2021 Executive Order, “Protecting Worker Health and Safety.” Notably, OSHA has yet to issue Emergency Temporary Standards, which according to the Executive Order were to be issued by Mar. 15, 2021.

2.25.21 – The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) Office of Inspector General (OIG) Office of Audit issued a report to the DOL Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) titled, “COVID-19: Increased Worksite Complaints and Reduced OSHA Inspections Leave U.S. Workers’ Safety at Increased Risk.” According to the report, although OSHA – which has thus far failed to issue an emergency temporary standard for airborne infectious diseases – received an “influx” of pandemic-related complaints, the agency reduced its on-site inspections and conducted fewer overall inspections throughout the pandemic. As such, the Office of Audit found that OSHA had only issued “295 violations for 176 COVID-19 related inspections,” while state agencies had issued “1679 violations for 756 COVID-19 related inspections.” According to OSHA’s included response, OSHA agrees with all recommendations and is already in the process of implementing several of them, including consideration of an emergency temporary standard for infectious diseases and prioritizing high-risk worksites for on-site inspections. The report follows recent scrutiny of OSHA’s actions relating to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

2.22.21 – The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) Office of Inspector General (OIG) issued a memorandum to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) announcing its intention to conduct an audit of OSHA’s actions related to protecting workers from COVID-19 exposure. According to the memorandum, OIG will “contact [OSHA’s] audit liaison to schedule an entrance conference to discuss the audit’s objective, scope, and methodology.”

2.1.21 – The U.S. House of Representatives’ Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis sent letters to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), Tyson Foods, Smithfield Foods, and JBS USA initiating an investigation into the multiple coronavirus outbreaks at meatpacking facilities, a “source for rapid transmission,” according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). An accompanying press release states that, although nearly 54,000 workers at 569 meatpacking plants have tested positive for the coronavirus and more than 250 have died, OSHA only issued eight citations for coronavirus-related violations, resulting in less than $80,000 in total penalties. The subcommittee is requesting that OSHA provide documentation of all coronavirus-related complaints, investigations, inspections, actions, guidance, and policies pertaining to meatpacking facilities by Feb. 22, 2021, and that the listed companies provide documentation of their incidents and actions by Feb. 15, 2021. 

1.29.21 – The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) announced the issuance of new guidance titled “Protecting Workers: Coronavirus on Mitigating and Preventing the Spread of COVID-19 in the Workplace,” consistent with Jan. 21, 2021 Executive Order 13999 directing DOL to, among many other things, issue revised COVID-19 workplace safety guidance within two weeks and consider the necessity of mandatory emergency temporary standards on COVID-19 and, if necessary, issue them by Mar. 15, 2021. EO 13999 also directs USDA, DOL and Health Human Services (HHS) and the Department of Energy to “explore mechanisms to protect workers not protected under OSHA,” which may include an examination of the so-called “small farm exemption” to OSHA jurisdiction which prevents enforcement of OSHA standards on farming operations of less than 10 employees and no employer-supplied housing.

9.10.20 / 9-11.20 – In a first-of-its-kind action, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) announced the issuance of citations to Smithfield Packaged Meats Corp. in Sioux Falls, S.D. and JBS Foods, Inc. in Greeley, Colo. for failing to protect employees from exposure to the coronavirus. These are the first known OSHA fines for inadequate COVID-19 worker protections. OSHA cited Smithfield and JBS each for one violation of OSHA’s General Duty Clause for failing to provide a workplace free from recognized hazards that can cause death or serious harm. OSHA additionally cited JB for failing to provide an authorized employee representative with injury and illness logs in a timely manner after OSHA’s inspection in May 2020. OSHA states that it issued the maximum penalties allowed by law: $13,494 for Smithfield and $15,615 for JBS. The companies have fifteen business days to pay the fines, confer with an OSHA director, or contest the citations.

8.19.20 – The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) published a checklist titled, “Employee Health and Food Safety Checklist for Human and Animal Food Operations During the COVID-19 Pandemic,” intended to serve as a quick guide for domestic and foreign producers, manufacturers, and processors of FDA-regulated human and animal food. The checklist is divided into two categories: 1) employee health and work environment logistics, which includes illustrated examples of acceptable and unacceptable workspace configurations, and 2) food safety. According to announcements from FDA and OSHA, the checklist should be used alongside “sector-specific” guidance, such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) joint interim guidance for agriculture workers and employers and the CDC-OSHA joint guidance for meat and poultry processing workers and employers.

6.2.20 – The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) announced the release of a guidance document titled, “Agriculture Workers and Employers: Interim Guidance from CDC and the U.S. Department of Labor,” issued jointly by DOL’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). This is approximately the thirtieth workplace-specific such guidance issued in the preceding weeks. The guidance advises that employers follow the hierarchy of controls to assess their COVID-19 risks and create a control plan that includes screening and monitoring workers on site, implementing social-distancing and sanitation procedures, and managing sick workers. The guidance addresses issues concerning shared housing and transportation, and suggests organizing workers into “cohorts” to minimize “the number of different individuals who come into close contact with each other over the course of a week.” The guidance also emphasizes that all communication with workers be “easy to understand” and provided in the appropriate language(s).

4.28.20 – The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) issued a “Statement of Enforcement Policy” clarifying that OSHA enforcement of the joint CDC/OSHA guidance would be conducted in accordance with DOL’s April 13, 2020, enforcement guidance, titled “Interim Enforcement Response Plan for Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19),” which provides detailed instructions to OSHA employees about using enforcement discretion in “handling COVID-19-related complaints, referrals and severe illness reports.”

6. U.S. Department of State

1.28.21 – As the result of an American Farm Bureau Federation letter of the same date to the U.S. Departments of Homeland Security and State raising the absence of an H-2A worker exemption, the U.S. Department of State issued an announcement stating that H-2A and H-2B workers who have been present in South Africa may qualify for national interest exceptions to be applied for at the time of Embassy/Consulate interviews. 

7. U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT)

8.11.20 – The U.S. Department of Transportation’s (DOT) Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) announced a further 30-day extension of its Emergency Declaration No. 2020-002 Under 49 CFR $ 390.24 until Sep. 14, 2020. The declaration, which has been extended monthly since its March 13, 2020 issuance and was previously set to expire on Aug. 14, 2020, waives hours of service limits for transport of “essential supplies,” including food, feed and livestock. 

8. U.S. Department of Treasury

4.28.20 – The U.S. Treasury published on its Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) webpage the text of an Interim Final Rule to be published in the Federal Register, titled “Interim Final Rule on Additional Criterion for Seasonal Employers.” This Final Rule provides alternative payroll expense calculation periods for seasonal employers applying for PPP loans.

9. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

6.18.20 – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced the publication of a Memorandum titled, “Guidance on Satisfying the Annual Pesticide Safety Training Requirement under the Agricultural Worker Protection Standard during the COVID-19 Emergency.” While the guidance encourages in-person training when possible, it permits remote training “as long as all WPS safety training requirements are met.” After the training, employers must create a record for each employee and document the training session. Whether training is conducted in-person or remotely, all trainers must meet qualifications set by EPA, or their respective state or tribal agency, and use EPA-approved training materials.

10. U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC)

6.17.20 – The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) updated its employer resource webpage titled, “What You Should Know About COVID-19 and the ADA, the Rehabilitation Act, and Other EEO Laws,” and announced that requiring an employee to undergo COVID-19 antibody testing before workplace re-entry after isolation is prohibited under the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA). This is distinguishable from a COVID-19 viral test to determine if a person has an active case of COVID-19, which is permissible under the ADA and does not meet the ADA standard of “job related and consistent with business necessity” for employee medical examinations.

11. U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)

2.18.21 – The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a joint statement to underscore that there is no credible evidence suggesting that COVID-19 is contracted or transmitted through food or food packaging. This statement is consistent with the findings of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which states that the risk of getting sick with COVID-19 from eating or handling food (including frozen food and produce) and food packages is considered very low. FDA and USDA emphasize that COVID-19, unlike foodborne or gastrointestinal viruses, such as norovirus and hepatitis A, is a respiratory illness spread through person-to-person contact, not contaminated food. The agencies state that consumers should be reassured that “the foods they eat and food packaging they touch are highly unlikely to spread SARS CoV-2.”

8.19.20 – The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) published a checklist titled, “Employee Health and Food Safety Checklist for Human and Animal Food Operations During the COVID-19 Pandemic,” intended to serve as a quick guide for domestic and foreign producers, manufacturers, and processors of FDA-regulated human and animal food. The checklist is divided into two categories: 1) employee health and work environment logistics, which includes illustrated examples of acceptable and unacceptable workspace configurations, and 2) food safety. According to announcements from FDA and OSHA, the checklist should be used alongside “sector-specific” guidance, such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) joint interim guidance for agriculture workers and employers and the CDC-OSHA joint guidance for meat and poultry processing workers and employers.

5.18.20 – The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), MOU 225-20-011, which outlines how the agencies shall cooperate in the event that USDA exercises the Presidential authority delegated to it in Executive Order 13917 to utilize Defense Production Act powers beyond meat and poultry production and processing. Executive Order 13917 contains language that permits USDA to identify “specific additional food supply chain resources,” deem them “essential to national defense” and utilize delegated Defense Production Act powers with regard to those industries also. Meat and poultry production and processing are solely under the jurisdiction of USDA, but should other food production and processing sectors become subject to Defense Production Act authority, FDA may have primary or exclusive regulatory jurisdiction over involved facilities. Accordingly, USDA and FDA created the MOU for collaboration regarding such facilities.

12. U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA)

7.6.20 – The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) announced the availability of loan-level data for loans administered under the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). For loans of $150,000 and above, the data includes, among many details, each loan recipient’s business name and address, the range of the recipient’s loan amount, and the number of jobs retained by the recipient’s business. SBA is withholding the names and addresses of loan recipients drawing less than $150,000. Additionally, SBA began accepting applications again on July 6, 2020 in accordance with the recently passed legislation extending the PPP application period until August 8, 2020.

4.24.20 – The U.S. Small Business Administration published on its Paycheck Protection Program webpage an updated Frequently Asked Questions document that addresses how to determine if H-2A worker payroll expenses can be included in the loan amount calculation and for reimbursement from the loan. Because payroll expenses are excluded if paid to an employee whose principal place of residence is outside of the United States the IRS regulations at 26 CFR 1.121(b)(2) defining “principal residence” may be used by the applicant to make that determination.

Note: This list is not exhaustive.

Rural Community Worker’s Alliance et al. v. Smithfield Foods, Inc. et al.
USDC W.D. Missouri, No. 5:20-cv-06063

5.5.20 – Judgment entered dismissing the case. The Court concluded that “it should decline to hear this matter pursuant to the primary-jurisdiction doctrine to allow the Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) to consider the issues raised by this case.”

4.27.20 – Smithfield Foods, Inc filed an emergency motion to dismiss the case, or in the alternative to stay based on primary jurisdiction and/or Burford abstention.

4.23.20 – Plaintiff filed an emergency motion for preliminary injunction or, in the alternative, a temporary restraining order.

4.23.20 – The Rural Community Workers Alliance filed a lawsuit against Smithfield Foods, Inc. failed in its duty to provide a safe and healthy work environment for its employers at Smithfield’s Milan, Missouri meat processing plant in the context of the pandemic COVID-19.

Janes Does I, II, III, et al., v. Scalia, et al.
Third Circuit, No. 21-2057
USDC M.D. Pennsylvania, No. 3:20-cv-01260

5.28.21 – Plaintiffs filed a notice of appeal of the order dismissing the case to the Third Circuit Court of Appeals. 

3.30.21 – The U.S. District Court issued an order and accompanying memorandum granting Defendants’ motion to dismiss and dismissing Plaintiff’s complaint. 

7.30.20 – OSHA and DOL filed a motion to stay the July 31, 2020 hearing, which was denied. At the conclusion of the July 31, 2020 hearing, the Court ordered briefing by the parties to conclude by Aug. 26, 2020, after which a decision is expected on the mandamus request.

7.28.20 – OSHA and DOL filed a motion to dismiss and supporting brief in response to a mandamus complaint filed on July 22, 2020, alleging Maid-Rite failed to comply with the Joint CDC/OSHA COVID-19 guidelines for meat processing plants in the operation of its Dunmore, PA, plant and seeking a court order that OSHA be compelled to conduct a formal investigation. OSHA and DOL claim that, in addition to the court lacking jurisdiction, the “plaintiffs fail[ed] to state a plausible claim” because the “possibility that COVID-19 could spread in the Plant at some unknown time in the future … falls far short of alleging an ‘imminent danger’.” 

7.22.20 – Three workers from Maid-Rite Specialty Foods, LLC in Dunmore, Pennsylvania and employee representative Justice at Work filed an emergency petition for emergency mandamus relief in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania against the U.S. Secretary of Labor (DOL) and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). The petition seeks a writ of mandamus compelling the Secretary of Labor to order an OSHA investigation of the Maid-Rite plant for its failure to comply with OSHA COVID-19 guidelines, creating an “imminent danger” for employees. According to the complaint, the “practices include failing to provide cloth face coverings, configuring the production line in such a way that workers cannot social distance, failing to arrange for social distancing in other areas of the plant, failing to provide adequate handwashing opportunities, creating incentives for workers to attend work sick, failing to inform workers of potential exposures to COVID-19, and rotating-in workers from other facilities in a way that increases the risk of spreading the virus.” This is believed to be the first such petition of its kind as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Alma et al. v. Noah’s Ark Processors, LLC
USDC Nebraska, No. 4:20-cv-03141

3.1.21 – The U.S. District Court issued an order dismissing the case for lack of standing. The court held that the plaintiffs lacked standing to request declaratory and injunctive relief and characterized the plaintiffs’ alleged injuries – that the occurrence of another potential COVID-19 outbreak at Noah’s Ark could endanger them and affect the community – as neither concrete, particularized, actual nor imminent and stated that the risk claimed by the plaintiffs of contracting COVID-19 as community members come from an incalculable number of other sources. 

11.23.20 – Three formers employees and a local doctor filed a lawsuit against Noah’s Ark Processors, LLC, alleging public nuisance and other theories arising from its operation of a meat processing facility in Hastings, Nebraska. The complaint alleged the company failed to take efforts to protect its employees and the community from COVID-19 and the plaintiffs sought declaratory and injunctive relief only, as opposed to compensatory damages for past conduct. 

Benjamin v. JBS S.A., et al.
USDC E.D. Pennsylvania, No. 2:20-cv-02594

1.29.21 – The U.S. District Court issued an order and memorandum remanding a lawsuit alleging the wrongful death of a JBS Souderton, Inc. meatpacking employee back to the Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia County. 

6.29.20 – Plaintiff filed a motion to remand the case to state court.

6.2.20 – Defendant JBS USA filed a notice of removal to remove this lawsuit to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. 

5.7.20 – In a complaint originally filed in the Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia County, Plaintiff Ferdinand Benjamin, personal representative of the Estate of Enock Benjamin, alleges that JBS’s disregard of safety regulations led to the death of Enock Benjamin, a Pennsylvania citizen and JBS Souderton employee. 

Fernandez v. Tyson Foods, Inc., et al.
Eighth Circuit, No. 21-1012
USDC N.D. Iowa, No. 6:20-cv-02079

3.7.22 – The Eighth Circuit Court issued a mandate. 

3.4.22 – The Eighth Circuit Court denied Appellant’s motion to stay the mandate. 

2.28.22 – Appellants filed a motion to stay the mandate. 

2.22.22 – The Eighth Circuit Court denied Appellant’s petitions for rehearing en banc and for rehearing by panel. 

1.31.22 – Appellants filed a petition for rehearing en banc and a petition for rehearing by panel. 

12.30.21 – The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit issued an opinion remanding to state court Fernandez v. Tyson Foods, Inc. along with consolidated case Hus Buljic, et al. v. Tyson Foods, Inc. No. 21-1010. The Eighth Circuit Court found that the Executive Order did not establish that Tyson was performing a “basic governmental task,” but only designated the food and agriculture sector as “critical infrastructure,” thus encouraging sector companies to maintain regular operations and establishing a basis on which to provide them assistance. The court then affirmed the district court’s remand of the case to state court. 

12.31.20 – Defendants filed a notice of appeal of the court’s order to remand to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit. 

12.28.20 – The U.S. District Court remanded the case to state court, concluding that Defendants had failed to establish federal question jurisdiction for the Plaintiff’s state-law tort claims. 

11.2.20 – Plaintiff Oscar Fernandez filed a motion to remand the case to state court. 

10.2.20 – Defendants Tyson Foods, Inc. and Tyson Fresh Meats, Inc. filed a notice of removal to remove this lawsuit from state court to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Iowa. Defendants argued that the company was entitled to federal jurisdiction, because it was acting at the direction of a federal officer under the Defense Production Act (DPA), authorized by Executive Order (EO 13917, April 28, 2020). 

Fields, et al. v. Brown, et al.
Fifth Circuit, No. 21-40818
USDC E.D. Texas, No. 6:20-cv-475

10.21.21 – Plaintiffs filed a notice of appeal of the court with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. 

9.22.21 – The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas issued an opinion and order, granting Defendants’ and Tyson Foods, Inc.’s motions to dismiss. The court held that the negligence claim was preempted by both the federal Poultry Products Inspection Act (PPIA) and Texas’s Pandemic Liability Protection Act (PLPA), which wad enacted June 14, 2021, and retroactively protects Texas businesses against COVID-19 damage claims. Additionally, the court found that the plaintiffs’ complaint failed to allege sufficient facts, stating that “[p]laintiffs make only conclusory statements that they contracted COVID-19 because of unsafe working conditions, without alleging how, when, or why they contracted COVID-19 or accounting for other possible sources of infection.” The district court dismissed the case with prejudice. 

6.28.21 – Tyson Foods, Inc. filed a supplemental motion to dismiss Plaintiffs’ first amended complaint. 

12.14.20 – Defendants filed a motion to dismiss Plaintiffs’ first amended complaint. 

9.25.20 – Plaintiffs, four workers from Tyson’s meatpacking plant in Carthage who contracted COVID-19, filed their first amended complaint, alleging negligence against Defendants and arguing that the company “failed to take adequate precautions” in order to protect its workers. 

8.28.20 – Defendants filed a notice of removal to remove this lawsuit from state court to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas. 

Note: This list is not exhaustive.

Miller v. Tom Vilsack
USDC N.D. Texas, No. 4:21-cv-00595

3.11.21 – Defendant filed a motion for summary judgment along with a brief in support. Plaintiffs also filed a motion for summary judgment along with a brief in support. 

11.12.21 – Plaintiffs filed a third amended complaint, dropping Title VI claim. The court dismissed Defendant’s partial motion to dismiss as moot. 

10.6.21 – Defendant filed a partial motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim along with a brief in support arguing that the court should dismiss Plaintiffs’ Title VI claim, because Title VI does not apply to Defendant. 

9.22.21 – Plaintiffs filed a second amended complaint.

7.1.21 – The U.S. District Court issued an order granting preliminary injunction against USDA’s debt relief program for socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers (SDFRs) and certifying two classes to further challenge the program. The court found that the plaintiffs, a group of white Texas farmers, face a substantial threat of irreparable harm if USDA were to forgive loans for socially disadvantaged farmers and that they are substantially likely to succeed on the merits of the case. Accordingly, the court issued a temporary injunction, enjoining USDA from “discriminating on account of race or ethnicity” in carrying out the loan forgiveness program, including “considering or using an applicant Class Member’s race or ethnicity as a criterion” or “considering or using any criterion that is intended to serve as a proxy for race or ethnicity” in determining eligibility for loan forgiveness.

6.29.21 – Defendant filed a motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim and a motion to dismiss for lack of jurisdiction in part, along with a brief in support. 

6.2.21 – Plaintiffs filed a motion for a preliminary injunction seeking to prevent USDA from providing loan forgiveness to individuals based on their race or ethnicity. Plaintiffs also filed a motion for the certification of two classes: one of U.S. farmers and ranchers “who are encountering, or who will encounter racial discrimination from the United States Department of Agriculture on account of section 1005 of the American Rescue Plan Act” and another of U.S. farmers and ranchers “who are currently excluded from the definition of ‘socially disadvantaged farmer or rancher’.” 

4.26.21 – Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller filed a class action complaint against USDA, in his capacity as a private citizen and on behalf of those similarly situated, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas seeking to have declared unconstitutional, in violation of federal law, and enjoined from being implemented, portions of the American Rescue Plan of 2021 and other laws implemented by USDA that provide benefits, including loan forgiveness, exclusively to a “socially disadvantaged farmer and rancher,” because those provisions discriminate against persons on the basis of race and national origin who are not within that defined group. The lawsuit was filed by a new law firm called America First Legal, headed by former Trump administration officials Mark Meadows, Stephen Miller and Matthew Whitaker.

Faust, et al. v. Vilsack, et al.
USDC E.D. Wisconsin, No. 1:21-cv-00548

8.23.21 – The U.S. District Court granted Defendants’ motion to stay the case proceedings. 

7.12.21 – Defendants filed a motion to stay proceedings until final resolution of certified class action Miller v. Vilsack, No. 4:21-cv-595. 

7.6.21 – The U.S. District Court stayed Plaintiffs’ motion for a preliminary injunction, noting that no showing of irreparable harm was made that would justify such an injunction. The court also dissolved a prior order granting a temporary restraining order, stating that it is no longer needed to preserve the status quo. 

6.10.21 – The U.S. District Court issued an order granting a temporary restraining order against USDA forgiving direct and guaranteed loans made to socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers under the authority to do so contained in the American Rescue Plan Act, Section 1005. Noting that “a generalized assertion that there has been past discrimination in an entire industry” is insufficient to establish a compelling interest for a remedy based upon racial classifications, the court found that the plaintiffs were likely to prevail on their claim because USDA lacked a compelling interest and the agency had not shown that the loan program was narrowly tailored to meet that interest. The court issued the temporary restraining order pending the court’s ruling on the plaintiff’s motion for a preliminary injunction. 

6.3.21 – Plaintiffs filed a motion for preliminary injunction and temporary restraining order along with a brief in support.

4.29.21 – Twelve white farmers/ranchers filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) alleging that its loan forgiveness program violated the equal protection clause of the Constitution because eligibility to participate in the program is based solely on racial classifications. For purposes of loan forgiveness under the program, USDA has defined socially disadvantaged farmer or rancher to include individuals who are one or more of the following: Black/African American, American Indian, Alaskan native, Hispanic/Latino, Asian, or Pacific Islander. 

Wynn v. Vilsack, et al.
USDC M.D. Florida, No. 3:21-cv-00514

12.7.21 – The U.S. District Court granted Defendant’s motion to stay the case proceedings. 

7.12.21 – Defendants filed a motion to stay the case proceedings pending resolution of the class action claims in Miller v. Vilsack, No. 4:21-cv-595. 

6.23.21 – The U.S. District Court issued an order granting a preliminary injunction against USDA’s debt relief program for socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers (SDFRs) under Section 1005 of the American Rescue Plan Act. Despite the government’s claim of past discrimination; reports detailing barriers for SDFRs in obtaining financing, “including smaller farm sizes, weaker credit histories, and lack of clear title to land;” and demonstrated insufficiencies in USDA’s outreach efforts, the court found that the debt relief program was not connected to nor narrowly tailored to remedy any of USDA’s previous discrepancies, and stated that ” [t]he Government has not connected SDFR’s disproportionate delinquency status to actual discrimination by USDA outside of conclusory remarks made in support of the legislation.”

5.25.21 – Plaintiff Scot Wynn filed a motion for preliminary injunction seeking to enjoin U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack from enforcing the “socially disadvantaged” provisions of Section 1005 of the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021. The motion states, “Although the government may be allowed to use racial classifications to redress specific instances of racial discrimination, Section 1005 grants loan assistance to every farmer and rancher that belongs to a ‘social disadvantaged’ racial group, while excluding every farmer and rancher that does not. Section 1005’s crude treatment of individuals violates the equal protection component of the Fifth Amendment.”

5.18.21 – Scott Wynn, a Florida farmer, filed a complaint against U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack, challenging the constitutionality of Section 1005 of the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021. Section 1005 provides debt relief for socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers, which include individuals who are one or more of the following: Black/African American, American Indian, Alaskan native, Hispanic/Latino, Asian, or Pacific Islander. Mr. Wynn claimed that these individuals are eligible for loan assistance because of their membership in a racial group, “regardless of whether they have suffered any racial discrimination in obtaining farm loans, farming, or elsewhere and regardless of their present economic circumstances,” which violates the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution.

Note: This list is not exhaustive.

National Federation of Independent Business, et al. v. Department of Labor, Occupational Safety and Health Administration, et al.
U.S. Supreme Court, No. 21A244 & 21A247

1.13.22 – The U.S. Supreme Court granted applications for a stay of the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) Nov. 5, 2021 COVID-19 Vaccination and Testing Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) (86 FR 61402). The stay will be in effect until the cases are finally concluded in the federal courts. The cases were also remanded back to the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals for disposition on their merits. The ETS expires by law on May 6, 2022 and the litigation (requiring disposition by the Sixth Circuit and a likely return to the U.S. Supreme Court) is highly unlikely to be concluded by the ETS sunset date. In a statement dated Jan. 13, 2022, DOL Secretary Walsh said, among other things, that “OSHA will do everything in its existing authority to hold businesses accountable for protecting workers, including under the COVID-19 National Emphasis Program and General Duty Clause.” 

12.17.21 – Twenty-six (26) trade associations applied to the U.S. Supreme Court for an immediate stay of the ETS mandate. The applicants declared that the ETS “will inflict irreparable harm upon hundreds of thousands of businesses across the retail, wholesale, warehousing, transportation, travel, logistics, and commercial industries that collectively employ millions of Americans. It will impose substantial, nonrecoverable compliance costs on those businesses.”  

BST Holdings v. OSHA
Fifth Circuit, No. 21-60845

11.17.21 – The Fifth Circuit Court transferred the case to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, No. 21-7000.

11.16.21 – In a letter to the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation, the Secretary of Labor requested that the panel consolidate thirty-four (34) petitions for review of the ETS mandate and assign them to a single circuit court. 

11.12.21 – The Fifth Circuit Court issued an opinion reaffirming the court’s temporary stay of OSHA ETS mandate. OSHA’s Emergency Temporary Standard webpage now states that, although the agency “remains confident in its authority to protect workers in emergencies, OSHA has suspended activities related to the implementation and enforcement of the ETS pending future developments in the litigation.” Those further developments will include disposition of a motion for a permanent injunction against the ETS. 

11.6.21 – The Fifth Circuit Court granted Petitioners’ motion for a stay, finding that there is “cause to believe there are grave statutory and constitutional issues with the Mandate.”

11.5.21 – A group of companies petitioned the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit for review of the COVID-19 Vaccination and Testing Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) (86 FR 61402) issued by the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) on Nov. 5, 2021.  According to petitioners, the ETS mandate “exceeds” OSHA’s authority under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 as well as Congress’s authority under the Interstate Commerce Clause and the nondelegation doctrine. In addition, petitioners also filed a motion for a stay of the ETS mandate enforcement.

In re: MCP No. 165, OSHA COVID Rule
Sixth Circuit, No. 21-7000

2.18.22 – The court granted the federal government’s motion to dismiss the case as moot as withdrawal of the ETS meant that there was no longer a basis for which the court could grant relief. All outstanding motions were denied as moot with the dismissal of the case. 

1.25.22 – The federal government filed a motion to dismiss as moot the petitions challenging the Vaccination and Testing Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) ahead of OSHA’s withdrawal of the Nov. 5, 2021 ETS, which is set to become effective on January 26, 2022. The federal government argued that the agency’s withdrawal of the ETS rendered the plaintiffs’ claims moot, stating that the “petitioners will no longer be subject – or face any risk of being subject – to the challenged requirements from which they sought relief.” 

12.17.21 – The Sixth Circuit Court dissolved the Fifth Circuit Court’s stay on proceedings issued on November 12, 2021. BST Holdings v. OSHA, No. 21-60845. The court acknowledged the existence of relevant statutes relating to the scope of OSHA authority in the area and determined that the “major questions doctrine” argued by the Fifth Circuit was inapplicable. The court found that the challenge to OSHA’s authority and constitutional challenges to issue the ETS and constitutional challenges had little chance of success. The court also noted that there is no indication of irreparable harm that outweighs the Government and the public interests. 

11.18.21 – The Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation consolidated cases against the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) pending before 12 circuit courts. These cases were consolidated in the Sixth Circuit. The subject of the litigation is the OSHA Emergency Temporary Standard requiring that employers of at least 100 individuals develop and implement COVID-19 vaccination policies. 

Note: This list only addresses Pennsylvania state cases. 

Ferdinand Benjamin v. JBS S.A., et al.
(Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas, No. 200500370)

Note*: This case is believed to be the first lawsuit in the nation filed by a meat processing plant employee against his/her employer for COVID-19 personal injuries, despite the well-established legal immunity employers enjoy from such lawsuits as a result of the universal enactment of Workers’ Compensation statutes in all 50 states.

Note**: the case was remanded from federal court to state court in January 2021. Trial is projected to begin on Sep. 5, 2022. 

5.7.20 – Attorneys representing the estate of Ferdinand Benjamin filed a wrongful death and fraudulent misrepresentation lawsuit against the various corporate entities that own and operate the JBS meat processing plant in Souderton, Pennsylvania, claiming damages as a result of Benjamin’s April 4, 2020, death from COVID-19.