Lopez, et al. v. Tyson Foods, Inc., No. 11-2344 (8th Cir. 2012)
Annotate this CasePlaintiff and 19 other employees represent a class of hourly production employees at a meat-processing facility of Tyson Foods. The employees sued Tyson for not paying wages due under the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (FLSA), 29 U.S.C. 201 et seq., and the Nebraska Wage Payment and Collection Act (NWPCA), Neb. Rev. Stat. 48-1228 et seq. At issue was the calculation of the employees' compensable work time where Tyson measured "gang time" - when the employees were at their working stations and the production line was moving. The employees claimed that Tyson failed to provide FLSA overtime compensation for donning personal protective equipment (PPE) and clothing before production and again after lunch, and for doffing PPE and clothing before lunch and again after production. The court held that the employees waived some of their claims and the district court did not err in instructing the jury or in its evidentiary findings.
Court Description: Civil case - Fair Labor Standards Act. In action alleging Tyson violated the FLSA by failing to provide overtime compensation for "gang time" (the time when plaintiffs donned protective equipment), certain of plaintiffs' issues were not preserved for appellate review; plaintiffs failed to meet their burden of showing reversible plain error with respect to certain instructions; remaining challenges to the jury instructions rejected.
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