A federal judge has rejected Perdue Farms’ request for an injunction blocking federal labor officials from hearing a whistleblower complaint from Robeson County originally filed 10 years ago.
US District Judge Terrence Boyle issued an order Tuesday denying Perdue’s motion for an injunction against the US Department of Labor and poultry farmer Craig Watts. Boyle’s order also applies to a similar case involving Rudy Howell, a second Robeson County poultry farmer.
In a 2015 whistleblower complaint based on the federal Food Safety Modernization Act, Watts “claimed that Perdue retaliated against him after he publicly alleged that Perdue had provided him with sick and dying birds,” Boyle wrote.
“Watts invited a film crew to his farm to film the conditions of chickens in his chicken houses, which Watts contends were housed pursuant to Perdue’ s rules and restrictions,” Boyle wrote.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration rejected Watts’ complaint in 2016, determining that Watts was not a Perdue employee covered by...
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