Appeals Court Reverses Summary Judgment in Pork Processor Worker Injury Case

In a significant legal development, the Iowa Court of Appeals has reversed a summary judgment previously granted to Seaboard Triumph Foods LLC in a negligence lawsuit. Emerson Dennis Saul, a staffing agency worker, sued the pork processing company after sustaining injuries in July 2019. Saul was injured when he was caught between two pallets that were struck by a forklift operated by a Seaboard Triumph employee.

Saul originally filed a workers’ compensation claim with his direct employer, the staffing agency, but also pursued a negligence lawsuit against Seaboard Triumph. The company contended that Saul was considered an employee under workers’ compensation exclusivity, which would bar such a lawsuit. However, the appeals court highlighted that there was no express contract between Saul and Seaboard Triumph to substantiate this claim, and noted the company’s HR manager’s testimony that Saul was not an employee of Seaboard Triumph.

With these uncertainties, the appeals court ruled that the question of Saul’s employment status is still open to interpretation, warranting further examination rather than a conclusive summary judgment. This decision sends the case back to the trial court to determine the specifics of the employment relationship and liability.