Max Robb: Veto ‘ag-gag’ bill

Regarding the May 19 news article “Senate approves ‘ag-gag’ bill”: Gov. Pat McCrory should veto this bill.

Sadly, oversight of poultry facilities in North Carolina is virtually nonexistent. Sufficient laws are not currently in place to support real animal welfare, consumer safety or food safety, so public interest groups serve as important corporate watchdogs.

The entire goal of this bill is to intimidate whistleblowers from coming forward by giving corporations the ability to legally attack and financially ruin an employee who exposes illegal and unethical behavior in the workplace, even if the claims are proven true.

This is an un-American, unconstitutional bill, and the governor should be aware that over the past three years, more than 20 similar ag-gag bills have been defeated around the country.

It’s no surprise that the main backers of this bill are the North Carolina Farm Bureau, the Poultry Federation and the Chamber of Commerce. These groups donated over $300,000 to candidates last year.

As a lifetime resident of North Carolina, I do not want powerful organizations to “buy” a whistleblower suppression law like HB 405. It’s unethical and at odds with core North Carolina values.

This story was originally published May 19, 2015 at 5:01 PM with the headline "Max Robb: Veto ‘ag-gag’ bill."