Butterball is Making News for More Than Thanksgiving Turkeys as They Juggle Turkey Shortage, Discrimination Lawsuit and a Major Recall

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Butterball is facing the heat, and it’s not coming from that Thanksgiving turkey roasting in the oven. 

The North Carolina company is currently dealing with a discrimination lawsuit, a major turkey recall and a small turkey shortage, all at the same time, and all in the weeks leading up to Thanksgiving.

The problems for Butterball started in early October when the poultry company was slapped with a class action lawsuit accusing it of discriminating against job applicants because of their status as medical marijuana patients.

According to the lawsuit filed in an Arkansas federal court, Plaintiff Douglas Mohr was unlawfully denied a job at Butterball solely because of his medical marijuana use away from work. 

Mohr says he received a job offer for a production associate position with Butterball in August. The position was not listed as safety-sensitive, he said, so it shouldn’t matter if he uses marijuana under Amendment 98 of the Arkansas Constitution. 

When Mohr reported for his drug test, he provided them with a copy of his medical marijuana card, and tested positive for marijuana and negative for all other drugs.

However, after seeing Mohr’s test results, Butterball had him escorted out of its facility and informed him he was no longer eligible for hire. Mohr is seeking damages, as well as attorneys’ fees and costs, for himself and at least 100 other applicants who he believes were improperly denied jobs. 

Less than two weeks after Butterball was sued for the alleged hiring violations, it was also facing a major recall. 

On Oct. 13, Butterball announced it was recalling two of its ground turkey products, including more than 14,000 pounds of ground turkey sold nationwide, due to possible blue plastic contamination.

The US Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) said the problem was discovered when FSIS and the Butterball received consumer complaints reporting pieces of blue plastic embedded in the raw ground turkey. 

The details of the recalled turkey products can be found here, but includes 2.5lb and 3lb ground turkey trays sold under different brands. 

The FSIS said at the time it was concerned that some of the ground turkey may be in consumers’ freezers or refrigerators, and urged consumers who had purchased the products not to consume them.

“These products should be thrown away or returned to the place of purchase.”

In the Weeks Leading up To Thanksgiving, Butterball Announces Shortage of Thanksgiving Turkeys

In recent weeks, Butterball has announced yet another challenge: a shortage of small turkeys. 

In the leadup to Thanksgiving, the company’s president has warned consumers that they’re either going to have to shop early, or make room for a bigger turkey in the freezer. 

“We don’t expect there to be a shortage overall, but we do see that there are going to be fewer small turkeys this year,” Butterball President and CEO Jay Jandrain told Fox Business. 

He advised shoppers to get to the store as early as possible for their best chance of securing a small turkey. 

The company said it was working to make sure there was still a range of turkey products available for Thanksgiving, according to Butterball’s public relations manager, Christa Leupen.

“Over the past year, our network of turkey growers and our team members have had to manage through challenges that impact the availability of certain sizes or products,” Leupen said. 

Butterball is not the only turkey producer facing shortages. Supply chain issues like truck and even cardboard box shortages have continued to plague logistics, leaving grocers with less turkeys available across the board, CBS reports.

Meanwhile, this year was looking to be more expensive overall for consumers making their Thanksgiving dinners, with the Agriculture Department reporting that turkey prices are up 20 percent year-on-year.

What do you think of Butterball’s trio of issues? Will you be buying a turkey early this year? Let us know in the comments and don’t forget to sign up for our newsletter to stay up to date on class action news all year long.

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