The U.S. Department of Agriculture issued its biggest meat recall in its history when it ordered a recall of 143 million pounds of meat processed and sold by Westland/Hallmark Meat Packing Company. The Humane Society of the United States had undercover video made at the company's plant that showed how the company handled the so-called "downer cattle." Under federal law, cattle scheduled for slaughter must be able to stand upright. If the cattle cannot walk or are too ill to stand, the law provides that they must be euthanized but cannot be put into the meat supply. The rule is based on the reality that cattle that cannot stand or walk are more likely to carry some form of disease such as mad cow or salmonella. The Humane Society video showed workers at the plant using a liberal definition of a "stander," and using shocks and forklifts to get the cattle upright for purposes of inspection so that the cattle could then be slaughtered. Downers are considered unfit for human consumption, but the downers the workers prodded into standing were slaughtered and made their way into the food supply. The workers were compensated on the basis of number of head of cattle slaughtered per day.

Westland/Hallmark was named USDA supplier of the year in 2006; it is a company with a good reputation. However, over 50 million pounds of the meat had made their way into school lunch programs. Some of the meat had already been eaten, with no illnesses reported.....................

Discussion Questions 1. Was getting the cows to stand up a way of complying with the law? Was it ethical?
2. What effect would Hallmark's compensation system for its employees have on their conduct?
3. Is there something to learn about a manager's role from the general manager's comment that the video surprised him?