Acosta v. Tyson Foods, Inc., No. 14-1582 (8th Cir. 2015)
Annotate this CaseIn a suit alleging violation of the Nebraska Wage Payment and Collection Act and the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), 29 U.S.C. 201, the district court certified a class consisting of current and former hourly employees of Tyson’s Madison facility, who “are or were paid under a ‘gang time’ compensation system in the Kill, Cut or Conversion Departments.” Gang time refers to time on the production line; Tyson uses a different system (K-Code) to compensate for pre- and post-shift activities, such as donning and doffing. The amount of K-Code time compensated depends on the employee’s position. Tyson had changed the K-Code entitlements. The court granted plaintiffs summary judgment on most liability issues, and awarded nearly $19 million to the class after a bench trial on damages and Tyson’s defense of good faith. The Eighth Circuit reversed, finding no evidence that Tyson had agreed to pay the disputed compensation as required for liability under the Nebraska Collection Act and that the FLSA claims should have been dismissed for failure to file a timely consent to the collective action as required by 29 U.S.C. 216(b).
Court Description: Colloton, Author, with Beam and Kelly, Circuit Judges] Civil case - Fair Labor Standards Act. Acosta was required to file a timely consent because his FLSA action alleged a collective action and because he failed to do so before the statute of limitations expired, the district court should have dismissed his claims; a claim that an employee is entitled to additional compensation under the FLSA cannot be raised through an action under the Nebraska Collection Act, and the plaintiff's claim fails as a matter of law; the district court's judgment is reversed and the matter is remanded with directions to enter judgment for Tyson.
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