A Colorado woman is suing the world’s largest meatpacking company, JBS USA, claiming she was pressured to falsify safety records while employees suffered severe injuries—including amputations—due to poor training and dangerous working conditions.
Salima Jandali, 31, alleges in a federal lawsuit that supervisors at the JBS beef processing plant in Greeley, Colorado, routinely ignored safety protocols and retaliated against her for speaking up. Jandali, a Moroccan-born Muslim and aspiring police officer fluent in three languages, said she faced constant harassment, including racial slurs and religious discrimination, for refusing to participate in the plant’s alleged safety violations.
After she reported the issues, Jandali claims her locker was vandalized, her Islamic prayer beads were tossed in the trash, and she was eventually forced out of her job. The complaint describes her experience as an example of systematic retaliation and discrimination against a whistleblower who refused to enable unsafe practices.
Jandali said she saw a Burmese immigrant lose his arm to a machine, others lose fingers, and frequent stabbings with knives and hooks. Many workers, she said, didn’t speak English, and JBS failed to provide interpreters to help them understand safety instructions.
“They didn’t want to complete the classes for new employees, and the retaliation began when I started speaking out,” she said. “I just want to show the world how corrupt they are, and hopefully this is going to raise awareness.”
Her attorney, Helen Oh, said no worker should have to choose between their integrity and their job.
JBS USA, a subsidiary of a multinational food giant and a top donor to Donald Trump’s 2025 inauguration, has not commented on the lawsuit. The complaint accuses the company of consistently prioritizing production over safety, resulting in preventable injuries.
A Colorado woman who worked at the JBS USA meatpacking plant in Greeley has filed a federal lawsuit alleging horrifying safety violations, racial and religious harassment, and retaliation after she refused to falsify training records.
Salima Jandali, 31, claims that JBS supervisors prioritized speed and profits over basic worker safety, leading to repeated gruesome injuries—including amputations—and ultimately drove her out of the company after she raised concerns.
The Greeley facility is run by JBS, the world’s largest meatpacker and a major financial backer of Donald Trump’s 2025 inauguration. According to the lawsuit, the company has a long record of federal citations and worker safety complaints, including:
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2021: A Greeley worker’s arm was severed in a conveyor belt accident witnessed by Jandali.
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2021: Another Greeley employee died after falling into a vat of chemicals due to faulty machinery.
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2023: A Wisconsin worker lost two fingers processing a carcass.
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May 2025: An Arizona worker died after being crushed by heavy machinery.
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July 2025: Twenty workers in Port Arthur, Texas, were hospitalized after a gas exposure incident.
Jandali, who is fluent in Arabic, French, and English, joined JBS in 2019 as a safety trainer. She says she was repeatedly harassed with slurs like “stupid Arab” and “stupid Muslim” and faced sabotage, including vandalized safety gear and trashed Islamic prayer beads.
She alleges that new hires, often non-English speakers, were sent to work on the processing floor without completing legally required safety training. Many of them, she said, couldn’t understand safety protocols due to the absence of translation services. Despite this, supervisors allegedly ordered her to falsify attendance records to cover up the violations.
When Jandali refused and filed internal complaints, the retaliation escalated:
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Her personal items were destroyed.
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She was locked out of her email and lost years of training data.
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HR allegedly falsely claimed she failed to file medical leave paperwork and fired her, only to reinstate her after union intervention.
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Her mental health deteriorated, and she eventually resigned in September 2024, citing unbearable working conditions.
Jandali is now seeking damages for lost wages, emotional distress, and punitive compensation.
Her attorney, Helen Oh, said in a statement: “No employee should have to choose between their integrity and livelihood.”
JBS has not responded to media requests for comment. The company has faced past legal action, including a $5.5 million settlement with Muslim workers over religious discrimination and a $3.2 billion fine in Brazil for a widespread corruption scandal.
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