Tyson Foods Lawsuit
Recently, the United States Supreme Court overruled a challenge by Tyson Foods, Inc. regarding the underpayment of workers at an Iowa pork-processing facility.
Background
The case, which was filed by a group of approximately 1,300 individuals in 2007, stated that the employees were not paid by the company for time that they spent putting on and taking off work equipment and walking to work stations. The workers also stated in their lawsuit that they should have been paid overtime for the time that they spent in these activities.
Tyson Foods contended that putting on equipment and going to work stations was part of the employee’s normal job functions and was part of the normal shift.
Reasoning
In the majority opinion, the Supreme Court considered objections to the use of statistics in determining liability and damages. The Court ruled that while there may be instances where statistics could be used in class action lawsuits, this particular case did not reflect the need to use any statistics.
Analysis
The ruling against Tyson Foods could potentially lead to organizations evaluating how they describe job duties. At the same time, businesses may be forced to adjust the shifts of their workers to factor in the time spent going to and from work stations and/or putting on and taking off equipment. Furthermore, the company may be forced to hire more employees or adjust shifts to offset any time spent partaking in these activities.
Conclusion
If a business owner has any questions regarding specific job duties or how they may need to compensate a worker for certain activities, it can be useful to speak with a business attorney. The lawyer can explain what duties are required of a job and how they should be incorporated into the job. In addition, the attorney can discuss any issues that may arise, such as if the activities may lead to an individual working more than 8 hours in a day. Additionally, a lawyer may be able to assess how long each activity may take and how the job duties could be more accurately defined to avoid any potential issues with overtime.