Source: Lisa M. Keefe, MEATINGPLACE, 2/20/15

The North Carolina contract poultry grower who invited an animal activist group to record a video of his operations where he raises chickens for Perdue Farms has filed a complaint with the Department of Labor alleging retaliatory harassment by Perdue in the wake of that video’s release.

Craig Watts filed his complaint Thursday with the Occupational Safety & Health Organization in Atlanta, alleging that Perdue has violated the employee protection provisions of the Food Safety Modernization Act. Watts is working with the lawyers at the Government Accountability Project watchdog organization.

In the complaint, Watts said that beginning the day after the video became public, Perdue began making daily visits to his farm, compared with weekly visits prior to the video’s release. On Dec. 29, a week after Perdue had picked up the most recent flocks from Watts’ farm, Perdue sent Watts notification that he was the subject of a “Performance Improvement Plan for poultry welfare and biosecurity.” He would not receive any more birds until his farm operations had been audited and he and others at the farm had completed retraining in animal handling and biosecurity.

Perdue indicated that the conditions seen in the video were “inconsistent” with the company’s standards, warranting the initiation of a Performance Improvement Plan.

"It is obvious from reviewing the complaint posted online that this is more about publicity than legal action," the company said in a statement. "Our actions are consistent with our standard procedures for handling contract grower issues and what we feel is necessary to ensure that our chickens are receiving appropriate care."

Since mid-January, Perdue has sent inspectors to the North Carolina farm “almost daily,” the complaint states.

Watts contends that he was “engaged in protected activity” when he invited Compassion in World Farming to “take and publish footage depicting the poor conditions under which chickens are raised for [Perdue.]”

“[Watts] believed that these conditions were the result of practices and conduct by [Perdue] that increased the chickens’ risk of contamination or infection,” according to a letter accompanying the complaint. “[Watts] … [also believed] that [Perdue’s] use of the phrase 'Humanely Raised’ on the labeling of its poultry products was misleading to consumers.”

The grower seeks compensatory damages for lost earnings he says are the result of Perdue’s refusal to place another flock with him until the retraining process was completed, and wages paid to an employee who was required to attend a training session. Watts wants the letter placing him under a Performance Improvement Plan expunged from his record with Perdue, and an order prohibiting Perdue from “continuing to subject his facility to retaliatory increased inspection.”

He also wants to be compensated for his attorney’s fees and any other costs associated with the legal action.

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