The Coronavirus pandemic has brought many new threats to the meat industry, from worker illnesses to supply chain disruptions. The threat of lawsuits can be added to this list – not just from employees who have been sickened while working at a plant, but also from shareholders. These “shareholder derivative lawsuits” have been filed in the travel and pharmaceutical industries, and it is conceivable that they could become prevalent in the food processing industry as well.
We spoke with Sean Meluney, partner at Benesch Friedlander Coplan & Aronoff LLP, to discuss some of the legal ramifications that companies may face.