The family of a Mercedes teacher has taken the first steps into filing a wrongful death lawsuit against an agriculture giant believed to be at the center of the swine flu pandemic.
Harlingen resident Judy Trunnell died from the swine flu on May 5.
Her husband Steven Trunnell filed a petition in the 357th state District Court on Monday to conduct discovery against Smithfield Foods, Inc.
The petition is the first legal step into what could develop into a wrongful death lawsuit.
The document states that Smithfield Foods is doing business as Granjas Carroll de Mexico in an area of Veracruz where the swine flu is believed to have originated.
The petition states that the Granjas Carroll facility is the largest pig farm operation in the world.
Steven Trunnell alleges that the swine flu was created under “horrifically unsanitary conditions” where one million pigs are kept in between “manure lagoons” and other “putrid conditions” that would never be permitted in the United States.
Click here for a full copy of Steven Trunnell’s petition
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