The state of California issued more than $58,000 in fines against Smithfield Foods after investigating the meat producer for coronavirus hazards.

Investigators with the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health found that Smithfield, through its Farmer John subsidiary, failed to space workers apart on the processing lines at its Vernon, California, plant. An outbreak among the workforce there left more than 100 workers positive for COVID-19 and three hospitalized.

The state also issued coronavirus-related fines totaling roughly $46,000 against Citistaff Solutions , a temp staffing firm used by Smithfield at the same plant. Investigators cited the firm for the same general failures in protecting workers from exposure to COVID-19.

Altogether, the fines against Smithfield and Citistaff at the one facility came to more than $100,000, making it one of the biggest workplace safety fines so far against a U.S. employer stemming from a coronavirus investigation. The fines were issued Thursday after a nearly six-month investigation.

In a statement, Keira Lombardo, a Smithfield spokesperson, called the fines perplexing and said the company plans to appeal.

Smithfield procured and provided masks, face shields and other personal protective equipment early and aggressively and, without question, during the time period covered by the citation, Lombardo said. As a company, we took seriously our obligation to protect employee health while also producing
safe food for millions of people. We implemented aggressive measures to ensure our employees were safe, healthy and protected so that they could continue the vital mission of producing food for millions of people.

Officials opened the investigation in late May after complaints from the workers union, the United Food and Commercial Workers Union Local 770. The union had demanded that the plant be closed after more than 130 infections became known at that point. The plant remained open.

On Monday, the union released a statement attributed to Jose Guzman, an employee at the plant.

In the absence of leadership from Smithfield, we have taken it on ourselves to call for safer working conditions and an investigation from [the state], Guzman said. Theyve never taken our health seriously we are disposable to them as long as their profits keep going up, and its no surprise to see this many citations given.

In late May, the unions president, John Grant, said that workers were still too close together on the processing lines several weeks into the pandemic. It appears investigators corroborated those allegations, finding that workers were within 6 feet of each other in at least six different processing areas of the plant, and that plexiglass screens were not put up to separate them.

They also cited Smithfield for the failure to provide or ensure the use of masks, and the possibility of contamination of masks due to the way they were stored and handled.

Grant said in a statement that at least 315 workers from the plant have tested positive for the virus to date.

The working conditions there have been horrific, and these citations show exactly what workers were exposed to every day they were on the job, he said.

Meatpacking plants were home to some of the worst coronavirus outbreaks in the country earlier in the pandemic. Workers in many plants complained of standing side by side on processing lines despite a rise in infections, and encountering crowded break rooms, locker rooms and entrances.