Miss. Federal Court Dismisses Claims Against State Officials in Tyson Worker's Suit

GREENVILLE, Miss. – A Mississippi federal judge has dismissed constitutional claims brought against state officials and supervisors of a correctional work-release program by a man who says he contracted tuberculosis at a Tyson Foods Inc. poultry processing facility while working off court-ordered restitution.

Senior Judge Glen H. Davidson dismissed claims brought against the individual defendants by plaintiff Marvin Jones, saying the defendants were entitled to immunity as an agent of the state under the 11th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

Jones alleges that he contracted mycobacterium tuberculosis while assigned to Tyson's Carthage, Miss., chicken processing facility as part of a …