Human Rights Due Diligence

Resolution Text

Resolved: Shareholders request the Board of Directors prepare a report, at reasonable cost and omitting proprietary information, on Sanderson Farm’s human rights due diligence (“HRDD”) process to assess, identify, prevent and mitigate actual and potential adverse human rights impacts.

Supporting Statement:
We recommend the report:
• Include the human rights principles used to frame its risk assessments;
• Outline the human rights impacts of Sanderson Farm’s business activities, including company-owned operations, contract growers, and supply chain, and plans to mitigate adverse impacts;
• Explain the types and extent of stakeholder consultation; and
• Address Sanderson Farm’s plans to track effectiveness of measures to assess, prevent, mitigate, and remedy adverse human rights impacts.

Companies that fail to address human rights concerns risk backlash from communities, customers, and regulators, all of which pose significant harm to long-term shareholder value. Industrial meat production exposes workers, farmers, and communities to actual and potential adverse human rights impacts. Poultry processing workers face serious labor rights violations, including injuries from unsafe line speeds and other hazards, exposure to toxins, wage and hour violations, sexual harassment, and workplace discrimination.1 Factory farming contributes to economic struggles for contract growers and family farmers, exploitation of migrant farmworkers, and occupational health and safety risks. Monoculture farming to grow animal feed requires heavy use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides, impacting human health, soil and water quality, and biodiversity.

Increased public scrutiny on these harmful production practices generates significant financial risk. The poultry processing industry is plagued by legal complaints, fines, and journalist investigations2 revealing patterns of workplace violations. Sanderson Farms is not immune: allegations against the company and its subsidiaries range from denied disability accommodation3 to federal fines issued for violations of wage and hour regulations,4 workplace safety and health, and labor relation regulations.5 In addition, lacking proper HRDD processes that include stakeholder consultation sparks public resistance to expanding operations. In 2018, community members in East Texas opposed a new Sanderson Farms development due to concerns about negative impact to the local community and environment.6 A proactive assessment of the salient human rights risks, informed by meaningful stakeholder consultation, would mitigate adverse human rights impacts and threats to the company’s social license to operate. Though Sanderson Farms’ Corporate Sustainability Statement affirms that a sustainable future is only possible if the interests of all stakeholders are considered,7 the repeated occurrence of these types of investigations, fines, and lawsuits indicates that broader steps need be taken to ensure that the company upholds these values.

Corporations have a responsibility to respect human rights within company-owned operations and through business relationships under the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights.8 To meet this responsibility, companies are expected to conduct HRDD, informed by the core international human rights instruments, to assess, identify, prevent, and mitigate adverse human rights impacts.9 To protect its long-term financial interest, Sanderson Farms should do just that.

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1 https://www.oxfamamerica.org/static/media/files/Lives_on_the_Line_Full_Report_Final.pdf
2 https://www.theguardian.com/food/2018/nov/26/revealed-restricting-breaks-keeps-poultry-industry-workers-living-in-fear
3 https://www.hrdive.com/news/court-awards-5-years-front-pay-to-worker-denied-a-disability-accommodation/522860/
4 https://www.rttnews.com/638105/sanderson-farms-to-pay-2-6-mln-to-settle-employees-donning-and-doffing-lawsuit.aspx?refresh=1
5 https://violationtracker.goodjobsfirst.org/parent/sanderson-farms
6 https://www.texasobserver.org/east-texas-sanderson-farms-cafo-factory/
7 https://cloud.3dissue.com/112651/113007/132393/2017CorporateResponsibilityReport/index.html?r=16
8 https://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Publications/GuidingPrinciplesBusinessHR_EN.pdf
9 https://www.ohchr.org/en/professionalinterest/pages/coreinstruments.aspx; https://www.ilo.org/declaration/lang--en/index.htm; http://www.oecd.org/investment/mne/1922428.pdf

Lead Filer

Diana Kearney
Oxfam America