A Sept. 25 complaint filed in the Circuit Court of Yell County, Arkansas, by plaintiff Mary Beth Anderson charged defendant Wayne Farms, LLC with responsibility for personal injuries she suffered while inspecting the defendant’s chicken processing plant. At the time plaintiff Anderson fell, she was working for an inspector for the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), the complaint explained.
Wayne Farms is a limited liability company permitted to and conducting business in Yell County, Arkansas, according to the filing. The plaintiff is reportedly a resident of the same county. The complaint recounted that the plaintiff went to inspect Wayne Farms’ chicken processing plant on or about Aug. 1, 2018. As part of her USDA oversight duties, she sat on a platform above the processing plant floor, observing.
The filing stated that “(w)hen the time for her break came, Plaintiff came down from her stand(,) and slipped and fell on an unknown wet substance on the floor.” The complaint alleged that Wayne Farms employees neither tried to clean up the area, nor did they warn Anderson about wet substances thereabout. Without specifying the nature of the plaintiff’s resulting injuries, the complaint stated that she sustained “personal injuries and damages” from the fall.
The complaint charged Wayne Farms, as the supposed owner and operator of the plant, with negligence. The plaintiff claimed that the defendant proximately caused her injuries and asked for compensatory damages. These include the reimbursement of medical bills, recompense for physical pain and mental suffering endured, and loss of earnings or earning capacity.
The plaintiff is represented by Rainwater, Holt & Sexton, P.A.
Wayne Farms has recently pursued litigation against LinkedIn and opiod companies, and has recently faced antitrust complaints along with other major agricultural producers.
