Cozy ties between Fresno County public health, Foster Farms during pandemic are disturbing

If a government agency tasked with protecting public health let a major local business know ahead of time about a surprise inspection another department was about to do to check on COVID conditions, would that seem fair?

What if that same agency withheld findings on outbreaks from the public?

And what if that agency created a strategy with the business on how to release information to the media?

Far from being hypothetical scenarios, such became real after a major COVID outbreak occurred last fall at the two Foster Farms plants in Fresno.

A quarter of the workforce at the plants — more than 250 people — tested positive for the highly infectious virus.

At least five people who worked at the South Cherry Avenue plant died, according to data provided by the company and Cal/OSHA. At least 22 people who worked at Foster Farms’ Fresno facilities were hospitalized due to COVID-19 related complications.

The troubling issues were outlined Wednesday in a story by Bee reporter Manuela Tobias, and her findings, based on Public Records Act requests, called into question whether the Fresno County Department of Public Health acted like the regulatory agency most assume it to be, or an industry advocate first and foremost.

The strong impression is that, far from being a true overseer, public health instead abdicated its role and chose to soft pedal Foster Farms through its COVID problems.

Inspecting Foster Farms

E-mails gathered by Tobias show that in late November, when the outbreak was raging, an environmental health specialist with Fresno County let Foster Farms know he would be making an inspection. On Dec. 8, the same specialist told the company that Cal/OSHA, the state agency in charge of workplace health and safety, would do an inspection the next day.

A Cal/OSHA spokeswoman told Tobias that cooperation with local agencies assumes they will keep such information confidential.

The county specialist also explained to Foster Farms that Fresno County public health did not intend to act like a regulator — that was the state’s prerogative. That could explain why no fines have been levied.

But Merced County health officials dealt with Foster Farms in a much different way last summer when a COVID outbreak occurred at the firm’s Livingston plant. There, the county ordered Foster Farms to close down the facility until cleaning and disinfecting could be done.

Key differences also exist between the two counties when it comes to disclosing where outbreaks are happening. Merced County’s health department updates its website with information about what businesses and groups in its region have COVID outbreaks.

But Fresno County said they have withheld case numbers at businesses to ensure the trust of employers and thus help them better manage the illnesses.

Fresno County officials also involved Foster Farms when it came to deciding what information to release to the media.

The company’s communications head told Fresno County he would only speak “with members of media that are reasonable in their past coverage.”

“OK,” a public health official wrote back in a Dec. 7 email.

Since when does a county agency need a company’s permission to share important information the public should know about?

That Foster Farms had such a large COVID outbreak understandably meant it had a major problem. But Foster Farms is not just any local company. Though family owned, in 2019 it was ranked as the 10th largest poultry producer in the nation, and that same year Forbes estimated its annual revenue at $2.4 billion.

Public health leadership

Fresno County Administrative Officer Jean Rousseau sounded a defensive tone when asked by Tobias about how public health had dealt with Foster Farms. “Any allegation of collusion or abrogation of our duties under the law are absolutely false,” his statement said in part.

No collusion? What would he call tipping off the company to a coming inspection?

As Bee columnist Marek Warszawski pointed out last year, the county’s Board of Supervisors made it clear that its approach to the pandemic would be chiefly to support businesses and then get out of the way.

Now, with most of California having entered the red tier status of COVID restrictions, one can see why it is taking Fresno County longer to get out of the purple, which is the most-restricted status. Even Los Angeles County, an epicenter in the last year for COVID infections, is now in the red.

Fresno County is the largest remaining county in the state still in the purple because its case rate has not dropped enough.

So, it is indeed proper to ask whether it is right for a major employer like Foster Farms to get kid-glove treatment for its COVID problems. The easy answer: No way. After all, it is not called the Fresno County Department of Corporate Health.

This story was originally published March 18, 2021 at 5:00 AM.