A Slaughterhouse Nightmare: Psychological Harm Suffered by Slaughterhouse Employees and the Possibility of Redress through Legal Reform

Abstract

What's the true cost of a hamburger? To the consumer, it's anywhere from under a dollar to, say, ten bucks in a fancy burger joint. But to the slaughterhouse workers, the cost of a hamburger includes the financial and physical hardships of the slaughterhouse work itself.

However, even less publicly discussed or understood is the psychological trauma inflicted on slaughterhouse workers. Not only do the employees face serious physical health hazards, but they also view, on a daily basis, large-scale violence and death that most of the American population will never have to encounter. This Note will discuss the psychological harm caused by slaughterhouse work and will propose several methods, including OSHA reforms, workers' compensation, and expansion of tort doctrine, by which the legal regime can prevent the harm from occurring and can compensate the employees for their psychological injuries.

Keywords: employment law, labor law, animal law

JEL Classification: K31, K32