The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit ruled in favor of Governor Gretchen Whitmer in a case challenging a testing plan for agricultural and food processing workers.
On Aug. 3, an emergency order mandated employers of migrant and seasonal workers to test all workers for COVID-19.
Plaintiffs in the lawsuit argued that the state is racially discriminating Latino farmworkers by mandating testing requirements.
According to the lawsuit, the MDHHS emergency order is targeting two classes of workers for mandatory testing and subsequent enforcement — migrant and seasonal workers, and workers in the meat, poultry, egg processing, and greenhouse industries.
Requirements for the emergency order include testing workers within 48 hours of their arrival to camp and separate housing for new residents for 14 days.
The governor's office released the following statement on the court's ruling:
“In a 3-0 decision, today a federal court of appeals upheld the state’s power to require certain agricultural employers and housing providers to implement testing protocols among Michigan workers who are especially at risk to COVID-19. The governor welcomes this decision upholding her strategy to save lives and protect the food supply.”
Additional Coronavirus information and resources:
Click here for a page with resources including a COVID-19 overview from the CDC, details on cases in Michigan, a timeline of Governor Gretchen Whitmer's orders since the outbreak, coronavirus' impact on Southeast Michigan, and links to more information from the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, the CDC and the WHO.
View a global coronavirus tracker with data from Johns Hopkins University.
See complete coverage on our Coronavirus Continuing Coverage page.
Visit our The Rebound Detroit, a place where we are working to help people impacted financially from the coronavirus. We have all the information on everything available to help you through this crisis and how to access it.