Turlock widow sues Safeway for husband’s wrongful death after coronavirus outbreak
The widow of a Safeway employee from Turlock who died from COVID-19 is suing the supermarket company for wrongful death and negligence.
In a lawsuit, Norma Zuniga alleges her husband caught the virus while working in dangerous conditions at Safeway’s Tracy Distribution Center, where at least 51 workers tested positive for COVID-19.
Zuniga is seeking punitive and general damages of an unspecified amount from Safeway and its parent company, Albertsons Companies, according the complaint filed May 13 in Alameda County Superior Court. The complaint claims Safeway threatened to discipline Pedro Zuniga and his coworkers when they raised concerns about issues including the lack of personal protective equipment and how closely they worked despite social-distancing guidelines.
The company also allegedly failed to screen employees with COVID-19 symptoms, required longer work shifts, used demerit points to discourage calling in sick and did not implement coronavirus safety measures, such as providing sanitation stations, until after Zuniga’s death.
“Safeway put production and profits over the protection of its workers,” said Paul A. Matiasic, an attorney for the Zuniga family, in a press release. “Tragically, the Zuniga family was forced to pay the price of Safeway’s misguided priorities.”
Pedro Zuniga, 52, had worked in the Safeway Distribution Center’s produce department for about 22 years when he died April 13, the lawsuit says. The father of five tested positive for COVID-19 shortly after April 1 and was in a medically induced coma for a week.
Three days after his death, Gov. Gavin Newsom called attention to the Tracy Distribution Center, noting that 51 of 1,700 employees there tested positive for COVID-19. In Stanislaus County, Zuniga was one of the first four reported COVID-19 deaths, according to county data.
Attempts to reach the Zuniga family were unsuccessful Thursday.
Safeway did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the lawsuit. In April, a representative told The Bee that the Tracy Distribution Center checked employees’ temperatures before they entered the facility and encouraged those feeling sick to stay home.
“The health and safety of all our associates is our top priority,” Safeway said in an emailed statement. “Once we learn of a positive diagnosis, we thoroughly clean and disinfect all locations and touch points that the associate may have come into contact with.”
Although Zuniga lives in Stanislaus County, her lawyers filed in Alameda County because Safeway’s headquarters are in Pleasanton. Matiasic’s law firm is also working on a class-action lawsuit against Safeway, the press release said, on behalf of current distribution center employees.
This story was originally published June 4, 2020 at 3:58 PM.
