Benefits May 1, 2008

Tyson Hit with Donning and Doffing OT Suit

May 1, 2008 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - A group of Tyson Foods employees filed a lawsuit against the giant food processor over allegations the company does not properly compensate workers for tasks including putting on and taking off safety gear.
Reported by

The suit, which seeks class-action status to represent the approximately 2,000 employees at Tyson’s Logansport, Indiana, pork packing plant, alleges the company violated the federalFair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and a similar state statute.A news release from the two law firms representing the workers , Grant & Eisenhofer, P.A. and the Karmel Law Firm, said more than 600 Tyson employees have joined the suit.

Get more!  Sign up for PLANSPONSOR newsletters.

According to the complaint, the Tyson workers are not properly paid for:

  • donning, doffing, cleaning, and sterilizing safety equipment including gear designed to keep workers from cutting themselves and contaminating the meet with human blood;
  • obtaining supplies, tools, and equipment;
  • preparing and maintaining tools and equipment;
  • attending safety and other meetings; and
  • performing production activities.

Among the equipment-related activities the suit claims the Tyson workers must perform without proper compensation are sharpening or grinding knives or “working the steels” – the act of sanding knife sharpeners to make certain they work properly.

The lawsuit is available here .

«