Worker says she was pushed to falsify safety records and saw employees lose limbs at Trump-aligned meatpacking plant

A Colorado pistillate moving for the world’s largest meatpacking institution – and large Trump protagonist – claims supervisors pressured her to falsify information records portion workers were regularly losing fingers and limbs owed to inadequate training.

Salima Jandali, an aspiring constabulary serviceman who speaks 3 languages and has a Bachelor’s grade successful governmental subject and anthropology from the University of Northern Colorado, says her supervisor regularly denigrated her arsenic a “stupid Arab” and forced her and others to enactment without due protective equipment.

When Jandali, 31, complained to absorption astir what she saw arsenic unsafe shortcomings astatine the JBS USA beef processing works successful Greeley, astir 50 miles northbound of Denver, her locker was vandalized, her Islamic supplication beads were thrown successful the trash and she was forced retired of her job.

That’s according to a national suit filed by Jandali, which describes her acquisition astatine JBS arsenic “a disturbing illustration of systematic workplace favoritism and retaliation against… a Muslim pistillate and Moroccan migrant who refused to enactment successful her employer’s illegal, dangerous, and exploitative practices.”

Once she left, Jandali “never wanted to look back,” she told The Independent.

Jandali said a recently arrived Burmese migrant got his limb amputated by a processing-floor machine, that others mislaid digits, and that accidental stabbings with hooks and knives were commonplace. The institution perpetually said it was short-staffed, and chopped corners connected information protocols to marque up for it, according to Jandali. However, she went on, galore of the caller hires didn’t talk English and JBS lacked immoderate translation services to assistance them recognize what they were being told to do.

“They didn’t privation to implicit the classes for caller employees, and the retaliation began erstwhile I started speaking out,” she said. “I conscionable privation to amusement the satellite however corrupt they are, and hopefully this is going to rise consciousness truthful radical cognize the information astir what’s going connected successful there.”

Salima Jandali says she was harassed endlessly for speaking retired implicit chopped corners astatine JBS USA, which led to mislaid limbs and amputated digits for workers. (Provided)

In a connection provided to The Independent, lawyer Helen Oh, who is representing Jandali successful the case, said, “No worker should person to take betwixt their integrity and livelihood.”

A JBS spokesperson did not respond to The Independent’s requests for comment.

Multinational nutrient institution JBS, which, via a subsidiary, was the azygous biggest donor to Donald Trump’s 2025 inauguration, “continually prioritized accumulation implicit idiosyncratic safety,” starring to horrific injuries successful pursuit of maximum profit, Jandali’s ailment alleges.

In 2021, JBS was cited and fined by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration aft a idiosyncratic astatine its Greeley works got stuck successful a conveyor loop and his near limb was severed cleanable disconnected – which Jandali recalled successful her interrogation with The Independent. That aforesaid year, different idiosyncratic successful Greeley died erstwhile helium fell into a vat of chemicals owed to an improperly installed portion of machinery. In 2023, an worker astatine a JBS works successful Wisconsin mislaid 2 fingers portion processing a cattle carcass, and successful May, a idiosyncratic astatine a JBS installation successful Arizona died from blunt-force injuries aft being crushed betwixt a forklift and a front-end loader.

On Monday, 20 workers astatine a JBS works successful Port Arthur, Texas were hospitalized aft they were exposed to perchance toxic levels of c monoxide and methane gas.

Beyond horrific workplace injuries, JBS has besides been accused by employees of myriad different abuses, including quality trafficking. In 2017, the Brazilian authorities levied a $3.2 cardinal good against the multinational’s genitor institution successful a sprawling bribery lawsuit that extended each the mode up to then-President Michel Temer. The institution settled 1 erstwhile suit for $5.5 cardinal by Muslim workers astatine JBS’ Greeley works who said they were discriminated against for their spiritual beliefs.

Jandali speaks 3 languages, has a assemblage degree, and is hoping to go a constabulary officer. She says conditions astatine JBS USA’s Greeley, Colorado were truthful bad, she was near with depression, PTSD and worse (Getty Images)

Jandali was calved successful Rabat, Morocco, and moved to the United States erstwhile she was a child. Fluent successful English, Arabic and French, Jandali began moving for JBS successful August 2019, astatine the company’s Greeley facility, conducting mandatory information grooming for caller hires and accumulation employees moving connected the nutrient processing floor.

In 2023, Jandali’s supervisor began to hurl radical and spiritual slurs astatine her “on a regular basis… often calling her a ‘stupid Muslim’ oregon ‘stupid Arab,’” according to her complaint, which was filed June 11 successful Colorado national court.

The harassment escalated arsenic the twelvemonth progressed, the ailment contends, describing “repeated degradation and intimidation of Ms. Jandali by throwing distant [her]... enactment boots and hard hat.”

“On astatine slightest 25 occasions, Ms. Jandali arrived [at] enactment to find her information instrumentality strewn about, missing, oregon successful the trash,” the ailment goes on.

“Without due equipment, Ms. Jandali was prohibited from taking caller hires to the processing level pursuant to information protocols,” the ailment states.

Federal instrumentality requires accumulation employees to implicit 100 percent of their information grooming anterior to moving connected the processing floor, the ailment explains, Yet, it says, passim Jandali’s clip astatine JBS, “supervisors routinely enactment accumulation employees to enactment connected the level erstwhile they had not completed each required information training.”

“Many accumulation employees were non-English speakers who needed interpreters to recognize and implicit the trainings,” the ailment states. “While Ms. Jandali could construe and construe for French and Arabic-speaking employees connected her shift, this was highly insufficient to code the connection needs for trainings crossed shifts.”

Jandali said she witnessed a caller migrant from Myanmar suffer an limb portion moving with unsafe machinery connected the processing floor. Now she's suing implicit what she claims were egregious information violations, among a big of different superior complaints (AFP via Getty Images)

Jandali raised the contented repeatedly, telling higher-ups that the signifier was putting radical successful danger, the ailment continues. In response, Jandali was told that immoderate problems were her fault, and that if she couldn’t get everyone trained adequately, “then this was not the occupation for her,” according to the complaint.

The company’s demands became much assertive implicit time, and the unit connected Jandali intensified, the ailment alleges. In May 2024, she was instructed to falsify grooming records for employees who had not attended their assigned sessions, the ailment maintains.

“Ms. Jandali objected and explained that accumulation employees were suffering superior injuries, including losing limbs, and information protocols needed to beryllium followed,” the ailment states, adding that “[h]er concerns were wholly ignored.”

Days later, Jandali reported the concern to upper-level managers, according to the complaint. Soon, it says, Jandali began to acquisition fierce blowback implicit her ongoing concerns.

“On May 28, 2024, Ms. Jandali arrived astatine enactment to find her workplace locker damaged, with the country bent and incapable to adjacent properly,” the ailment alleges. “She recovered her Tasbih (Islamic supplication beads) successful the trash, on with her different idiosyncratic belongings. Ms. Jandali was horrified, profoundly hurt, and feared for her safety.”

Jandali past went to HR to record a ceremonial grievance but, contempt their promises, the ailment claims she “never received immoderate travel up oregon resolution.”

Jandali hopes to go a constabulary officer, and said that erstwhile she near JBS, she 'never wanted to look back' (Provided)

The conditions astatine JBS had been getting progressively worse for Jandali successful different ways, arsenic well. When her begetter needed bosom surgery, Jandali requested household permission to assistance him, and was approved, the ailment states. However, portion she was out, HR “falsely” informed her that her paperwork had ne'er been received and terminated her employment, it says. Following a grievance Jandali filed with the union, which included a insubstantial way proving her broadside of the story, she was reinstated, according to the complaint.

Still, upon returning to work, Jandali recovered herself locked retired of her institution email and incapable to entree her online enactment drive, grooming materials and classrooms, the ailment states. Nearly six weeks later, the ailment says Jandali yet regained entree to her email account, but recovered that “all of her anterior emails with years of accumulated grooming accusation [had been] deleted.”

In June 2024, Jandali requested a three-month aesculapian permission to woody with “worsening depression, anxiousness and [post-traumatic accent disorder] caused by JBS’s retaliation and harassment,” the ailment states. Three weeks later, it says she got a telephone from HR demanding she instrumentality to enactment successful 7 days oregon other she would beryllium fired. Jandali appealed, and authorities regulators forced JBS to support her connected the payroll.

However, erstwhile she yet got back, the concern she continued to endure, connected apical of “months of unaddressed harassment, retaliation and unit to prosecute successful amerciable conduct,” was excessively overmuch to take, the ailment states.

On September 9, 2024, facing the nonstop aforesaid issues arsenic before, Jandali resigned.

Beyond her depression, anxiousness and PTSD, Jandali’s ailment says her clip astatine JBS caused “debilitating carnal symptoms including insomnia, predominant nightmares, inability to ore and utmost fatigue,” the ailment states. “These conditions person transformed her from a vibrant, progressive and outgoing idiosyncratic into idiosyncratic who struggles with basal regular functioning and experiences profound affectional numbness.”

Jandali is present seeking economical damages, including beforehand wage and backmost pay, compensatory damages for affectional pain, suffering and intelligence anguish, arsenic good arsenic punitive damages, positive interest, attorneys’ fees and tribunal costs.