Ruiz v. ConAgra Foods Packaged Foods, LLC

Ruiz v. ConAgra Foods Packaged Foods, LLC

Opinion

DECISION AND ORDER DENYING DEFENDANT'S MOTION TO DISMISS PLAINTIFF'S AMENDED COMPLAINT

On February 26, 2021, Rigoberto Ruiz filed a complaint in Walworth County Circuit Court against his former employer, ConAgra Foods Packaged Foods, LLC, alleging state-law claims of wrongful death and survival. See ECF No. 1-2. ConAgra removed the action to federal court on March 26, 2021, ECF No. 1, and the parties consented to magistrate-judge jurisdiction, see ECF Nos. 4, 9. After ConAgra filed a motion to dismiss the complaint, ECF No. 5, Ruiz responded by filing an amended complaint, ECF No. 8. The amended complaint alleges that Ruiz contracted COVID-19 while working at ConAgra under unsafe conditions and that Ruiz transmitted the virus to his wife, who succumbed to the disease. ConAgra has filed a motion to dismiss the amended complaint, arguing that the Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness Act (PREP Act), see 42 U.S.C. § 247d-6d, immunizes ConAgra [*2]  from Ruiz's claims. ECF No. 10. For the reasons given below, the motion will be denied.¹

BACKGROUND

The following allegations are taken from Ruiz's amended complaint. See ECF No. 8. ConAgra operates a meat-packing plant in Darien, Wisconsin, where Ruiz was employed from 1995 until he tested positive for COVID-19 on April 22, 2020. Id. ¶ 5. Ruiz alleges that he contracted COVID-19 because of ConAgra's inadequate safety measures and, in some cases, the failure to institute any measures at all. As a result, Ruiz alleges that over 100 of ConAgra's employees tested positive for COVID-19 in April 2020, an outbreak that prompted ConAgra to temporarily close its plant on April 22, 2020. See ECF No. 8 ¶¶ 5-9.

Ruiz alleges that, prior to its temporary closure, ConAgra was aware of at least one of its employees testing positive for COVID-19; it further knew that many of its employees exhibited symptoms caused by COVID-19. Despite this knowledge, ConAgra failed to institute adequate safety measures. In fact, Ruiz alleges that ConAgra requested that its employees who were exhibiting COVID-19 symptoms continue working. As for workers housed in the company dorm, Ruiz alleges that ConAgra failed to [*3]  properly space out its workers' sleeping arrangements. Moreover, the amended complaint alleges that ConAgra failed to institute a track-and-trace system or train its workers properly to mitigate COVID-19 risks. The company also allegedly failed to properly distance its workers or enforce a mask policy. Ruiz alleges that many of these failures were in violation of Governor Evers' emergency orders. Ruiz alleges that he contracted the virus as a result of ConAgra's inadequate safety measures and then unwittingly exposed his wife, who later died from the disease. See ECF No. 8 ¶¶ 9-12. Accordingly, Ruiz now brings both a wrongful death and a survival action against his former employer, ConAgra.

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