Tyson workers considering lawsuit
Initial meeting held with attorney
By Bobbi Mlynar (Contact)
Sunday, April 27, 2008
Current and past employees at Emporia's Tyson Fresh Meats plant are preparing to file a lawsuit against the company for alleged violations of the federal Fair Labor Standards Act.
Almost 90 men and women signed in Saturday at an informational meeting in the sanctuary of the Grace United Methodist Church.
The workers believe that Tyson should have paid them for time they spent changing into and out of uniforms required for their jobs, and preparing and cleaning equipment they used in performing the work.
The meeting was organized by former and current Tyson workers involved with the Center for a New Community, whose headquarters are in Chicago, and the Displaced Tyson Workers Fighting for Justice.
The Displaced Tyson Workers group had gone in March to Tyson headquarters in Springdale, Ark., to talk with upper management officials.
“They received us, and we asked for more time, to keep paying insurance for the people … helping with houses” and other issues, Nelson Orellano said before the meeting.
He said the group was told, “We’re going to think about it and we’ll call you in a week.”
The managers from headquarters later came to Emporia to meet with the group.
“They came here just to say ‘no,’” Orellano said.
On Saturday, the organizations brought in attorney Roger Doolittle of the Doolittle Law Firm in Jackson, Miss.
“We’re investigating the possibility of filing a lawsuit for wages and compensation that may be due and outstanding,” Doolittle said.
The suit could possibly go back as much as 3 years, he said, explaining that under FLSA, the hourly workers could not ask for compensation beyond that time.
Doolittle told audience members that they would need to sign a document to retain the attorneys to represent them, as well as sign “opt-in” paperwork if they wanted to become part of the lawsuit.
“Those people who want to participate need to move,” Doolittle said of the former workers. “Each day that they don’t is a day that they lose on their claim. … It’s important that people who are in here today and want to participate, need to do it quickly.”
Speaking through an interpreter, Doolittle explained what was involved to file the suit and answered questions from the audience.
“We’ll file those opt-ins as soon as we file the lawsuit,” he said. “If you don’t opt in to this class action, you don’t get any money. …
“(Current workers) will accrue on the front side. They can go back three years and then forward.”
An investigation into the unpaid time issue will be conducted and the suit will be filed quickly in federal court if it is determined to be viable.
“Each day that you wait to join in the lawsuit comes off the back side of the three years you might be entitled to, which is why I’m here today instead of 2 weeks from now,” Doolittle said.
He told the audience that he has litigated FLSA suits for many years in tandem with law firms in Philadelphia and Nashville, and that they have cases pending involving Tyson meat, pork and poultry plants in Iowa, Nebraska, Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia and Tennessee.
“The U.S. government is suing Tyson on its own in poultry cases in Birmingham, Alabama, even as we speak,” Doolittle said, drawing applause. The federal suit also involves alleged wage-and-hour violations.
Audience members said that they were not paid for time spent putting on clean gloves, smocks, hairnets and beard nets and taking care of equipment they used in their jobs. Compensable time, they said, did not start until the first piece of meat came onto the line. Break-downs sometimes turned into unpaid time and they were required to stay late, without being paid, to complete the work lost during the breakdown.
“If they required you to stay on that line during down time, they have to pay you for every penny of it,” Doolittle said.
Sometimes, one worker said, they worked 40 hours but were paid for 38 hours and 20 minutes.
“How could they take it away from us?” he asked. “… I never could understand.”
Doolittle said that all of the time records for the workers could be gathered from Tyson to substantiate their allegations.
Several current workers were concerned about losing their their jobs if they opted in, and others were worried that joining the lawsuit would hamper being called back if jobs opened.
One man surveyed the relatively small audience seated in the church pews.
“It looks to me like this is a community of cowards,” he said.
He and others worried that the response on Saturday would not be adequate to engage the attorneys.
“There’s plenty of people in this room to file a lawsuit,” Doolittle responded, adding that the suit would depend on their signing the paperwork to support it.
“A lot of people want to participate and they are afraid if they get involved in this lawsuit, Tyson isn’t going to call them to work,” a woman explained through translator Axel Fuentes of Missouri, who is affiliated with the Center for a New Community.
“They are still keeping some hope that they will be re-hired,” she said.
Doolittle said he did not expect reprisals from their participation.
“In the 15 years that we’ve been doing this type of litigation, I’ve never seen an employer do that, for the simple reason there’s a provision in the FLSA that specifically protects your participating in the lawsuit,” he said. “And the last thing Tyson would want to happen is to get sued for retaliating against somebody, because federal judges don’t like that.”
Most of the audience members filled out the paperwork and returned it to Doolittle. Many picked up multiple forms to take to current workers who had been called in to work on Saturday and could not attend.
Doolittle told them attorney fees would not be a set percentage of proceeds from a successful lawsuit, and that a federal judge would set the fees.
“If we don’t recover against Tyson, you would owe use nothing,” Doolittle said.
Comments
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emporian (anonymous) says...
Karma always gets ya doesnt it Tyson.
April 27, 2008 at 11:30 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
hickory (anonymous) says...
That happened back in the 80's when it was IBP. I worked there from 84 to 86.......I finally got my money 14 or 15 years later and it was only about $1,000.00.. So........all you Tyson employees and former employees don't get your hopes up.
April 27, 2008 at 7:19 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
admireed (anonymous) says...
Do you recall how much the lawyers got?
April 27, 2008 at 7:38 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
rdgrey (anonymous) says...
This sounds like a cheesy lawsuit to me. A lawyer trying to use people who got laidoff for publicity. Who gets paid to change clothes? Mechanics? nurses? should they get paid for washing their hands after work too? Or the shower before work so they dont offend anyone? Wish I could sue for the gas it takes just to go to work. Come on people, wake up and tell this jerk to take a hike.
April 27, 2008 at 8:26 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
wanderer (anonymous) says...
Can't agree, rdgrey. If it's something your company requires you to do, it should pay you for it. If nothing else, most people who have to change clothes to do a particular job are probably "on the clock" while they're doing it.
Yes, the lawyer's probably an opportunist but I've heard enough stories about the meatpacking industry to believe that there may be something that needs looking into.
April 27, 2008 at 10:49 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
blulitespecial (anonymous) says...
One more lawsuit of many! I think they figure for years ahead the average cost of all the lawsuits into what it costs to be in the business.Too bad the employees have to wait until now to file.I'd think most would be afraid to file while they have a job.People get killed around here for swimming against the beef's current.
April 27, 2008 at 10:51 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
rollingdavidspade (anonymous) says...
i can understand wanting to get paid if they are forced to stay late, or remain on the line whenever there is down time, but like rdgrey said, come on.... you wanna get paid to get dressed, or wash hands.... thats freakin ridiculous..... when they say be to work by 6, or 10, or whenever your shift may start, that means be in your spot, on the line ready to go.... not in the bathroom scratching yourself taking your sweet @$$ time gettin to your spot... show up to work four minutes early and get dressed... what is four minutes anyway, at 14 bucks an hour, that equals a whole 93 cents.... now maybe when gas was 1.09 i could see your argument..... but prolly not.....
April 27, 2008 at 10:57 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
hickory (anonymous) says...
I don't recall any lawyers.......all I remember is that we had to fill out a questionaire telling the Federal Department of Labor how much time we spent getting our knives and gloves and clean-up after work. I could be wrong, but I never talked to any lawyers.
April 28, 2008 at 5:58 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
EsqEB (anonymous) says...
I have to wear a suit everyday to work and my employer does not pay me. Maybe I will sue as well...also for the dry cleaning of the suits, shirts, and ties...and the shoe shines. I bet my cuff links are a tax right off as well...
April 28, 2008 at 8:03 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
coldhardtruth (anonymous) says...
I think this is BS, when are the people that were laid off from Tyson going to stop this crap. It happens to many people everyday, you guys are lucky that you got compensation like you did. I really get irritated everytime another ex-Tyson worker finds another thing to comlain about. Just get out there and find another job GEEZ
April 28, 2008 at 9:33 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Hillbilly (anonymous) says...
I agree with you coldhardtruth, damn, they just need to go and find another job!! and move ON! you all ain't gonna get crap out of tyson, you got all your gonna get......... stop whining
and for you who think that tyson will be calling you back,, stop and think for a second, they cleaned out the ones they didnt want working there, maybe you are the ones that they didnt want there when they CLEANED HOUSE. life sucks when you worked at tyson, get over it
April 28, 2008 at 10:03 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Cherry_Bomb (anonymous) says...
Here is a couple of links and articles about the trip to Arkansas. I also heard that not all displaced workers were allowed to sign up at this so called meeting on saturday. It must be a private group.
Laid-off workers visit with Tyson -- March 4th
http://www.nwanews.com/adg/Business/2...
The workers’ complaints included not getting enough advance notice of the layoffs and not knowing whether injured workers would continue to have medical costs covered. They also demanded help with housing payments and additional payments to help workers laid off.
Leone Jose Bicchieri, a community organizer for Chicagobased Center for New Community and the man who helped plan Monday’s trip, was happy Tyson opened its doors, but wanted to hear more about what the meat processor can do for displaced workers. “They would not have gone through all of that if they were not concerned,” Bicchieri said. He helped found a community organization called Friends in Faith in Emporia connected with the Center for New Community. The Center for New Community calls itself a faith-based community organizer, and has condemned anti-immigrant rhetoric, as well as racist and anti-Semitic behavior in the United States.
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Center for new community ---- April 22nd
http://www.newcomm.org/index.php
The Struggle Continues in Emporia
The struggle for rights and respect goes on in Emporia and the other communities where the Center is working in Iowa, Kansas, and Missouri. At a meeting at the United Methodist Church in Emporia on March 14, more than 200 people said they felt that it was important to meet two goals:
1) Continue organizing the workers who will stay at the plant and help with local needs.
2) Expand our campaign to inform the greater public about Tyson’s disrespectful and inhuman treatment of the families who have made Tyson Foods the biggest meat processor on earth.
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April 28, 2008 at 10:04 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Cherry_Bomb (anonymous) says...
According to these articles there were no complaints about not being paid to change clothes etc.. it seems they are grasping for straws now.
April 28, 2008 at 10:09 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
UsayULoveGod (anonymous) says...
That's the problem ,people get mistreated all of the time and when someone tries to stand up and say , I want better rights and I want to be treated with respect and dignity , The ones who have not lived in the shoes of the oppress , complain the most . What Tyson did was wrong. the way they continue to mistreat their workers is wrong. If people want to express their frustrations , please let them protest . It is their right to freedom of speech.
I think they know that their job is lost, and there is a very good chance they will never work for a Tyson plant again. They are fighting for those who are currently employed by Tyson
April 28, 2008 at 10:37 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Iloveemporia (anonymous) says...
I think it is all BS the suit will not come thru and it's only going to make it worse for the few that where able to keep there jobs. i say if you got laid off of tyson go find another job and stop hurting the emporia economy by trying to file suit on a company that has no will to stay in emporia
April 28, 2008 at 11:13 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Deepthoughts (anonymous) says...
I have to agree with coldhard and many others on this one. It is time to let it go. What is that saying about beating a dead horse? The only thing I have heard (but cannot prove) that I will agree with that Tyson has possibly done wrong is hire workers who did not have proper papers in order to get cheaper labor - especially if there were workers available with proper papers and would have been good candidates for the job. As far as the layoffs are concerned, Tyson has to make business decisions everyday to keep from going into bankruptcy - has anyone seen the numbers they have reported lately? We might not agree with those decisions, but since we do not know all the reasons behind those decisions, it is best not to judge. If Tyson is mistreating their workers, then those workers should step up at that time and say something - not after the fact - or find another job where they are not mistreated.
If people want to voice their frustrations, fine, go right ahead, but they also have to understand that after a while people are going to get tired of hearing it and might not feel sorry for them anymore, especially when a flimsy lawsuit like this is filed and the taxpayers get to pay for it to go to court.
April 28, 2008 at 11:51 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
create (anonymous) says...
Good points, Deepthoughts. When I first saw the headline, I immediately thought of the lawsuits in Alabama and Tennessee where workers are filing class action suits against Tyson for replacing them with undocumented workers who were paid lower wages. I wouldn't blame them for that, and in fact would support them. But this changing of clothes issue is frivolous.
April 28, 2008 at 3:44 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
coldhardtruth (anonymous) says...
All I have to say is that the people that got laid off from Tyson are lucky they weren't working somewhere else, like Menu. I mean I know some people who worked there and they had no idea that they would lose their jobs that day. I have a relative that is working there now and she will work like a couple days and then have to use up her unemployment cuz they will lay her off for like two weeks. Now that is some messed up stuff. At least Tyson workers got compensation and warning, others don't receive any of that.
April 28, 2008 at 5:31 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
blulitespecial (anonymous) says...
It's about time.This is one of those times Tyson chips away at your time and effort to put in 8plus hours,but pays you for less time than what is required for the job.These lawsuits don't come about for the heck of it- It's usually pretty widespread for a long time before it gets to court.A lot of money involved to Tyson,but it seems you can only recover a small amount of the lost wages. A few pennies and dollars here and there times the number of man-hours per year is a real chunk of change to Tyson.
This is far from the first time.It's just the latest time they were caught.Every few years Tyson has to get sued for things like this bring them back in line.Next year will be Tyson officials paying off the USDA. Again. There are other "creative accounting" scams to shave pennies of their costs,too.Anyone who does business with them is well aware of these practices.
A lot of companies have clean up time.It's nothing new.We were payed cleanup/washup time at the end of our shift to keep chemicals and contamination out of our cars,homes,and schools.It was better for the employee and their families.Now that's been negotiated down to a few minutes of cleanup time and a few pennies per hour.Not quite as generous as it used to be,but it still helps replace contaminated clothing. And employees are kept aware of contamination possibilities and good health practices. People really are safer because of it.
Do you want employees to walk into your school or daycare with 3 day old blood on their shoes,or cut your steak without being able to correctly clean their gear? I want them payed to do it,and I want them happy they're being payed to do it.
April 28, 2008 at 11:23 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
create (anonymous) says...
Blulite, you have given me yet another reason to support this forum--an exchange of good, solid ideas. Yours is one. I never gave contamination problems a second thought, but you are absolutely right. I take it back what I said about frivolous complaints.
April 29, 2008 at 8:14 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
UsayULoveGod (anonymous) says...
Also , when you are in line behind other people who are washing their equipment , it might take you 30 or 40 minutes before you are going through the doors to go home and to be with your family. We all get tired of , you better be happy you have a job ! What we should be doing is saying is how can we make a profit and treat people like they are more important than the cows we are processing.
April 29, 2008 at 9:36 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
siamesefred (anonymous) says...
Google:
tyson lawsuit doffing
and you'll find many articles about these types of cases dating back to 2000. Tyson has won some cases; others have held that putting on and taking off work gear does require compensation for the time spent. Also, workers in Des Moines just filed against Tyson in March.
Looks to me as if lawyers are traveling the country chasing disgruntled workers to be plaintiffs in lawsuits. Wonder how much money the workers will actually see.
April 29, 2008 at 12:14 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
wyankee49 (anonymous) says...
You're right about going out and finding another job. I agree with almost everything that I have read. However I must throw in my two cents about people in managment showing DISRESPECT to the team members. I don't think that anyone should be called WORTHLESS and a no-good worker. If a person is so "no-good and worthless" why was he there for 26 years, with nothing on his record. I let this problem be handled in plant but to be truthful nothing changed. All I can say is for those who think that they are owed money GO FOR IT and I wish you alot of luck.
April 29, 2008 at 5:31 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
dantheman (anonymous) says...
Whiners. You got paid for dressing and clean up. They took time off the main chain running so you didn't actually work 8 hrs. a day. If you had to stay 7 minutes late then you were paid and additional 15 minutes. Know the Laws before you bitch.
The ones that couldn't sign up probably didn't have valid credentials so they don't deserve it just like if you aren't legal you don't deserve welfare and srs. Get legal, find another job and get on with your lives.
May 6, 2008 at 1:45 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
nks (anonymous) says...
I am required to wear safety glasses. Does that mean I can sue my employer for the 2 minutes it takes to spray lens cleaner and scrub them every morning before I walk on the shop floor?
September 2, 2008 at 4:49 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Bjnemp (anonymous) says...
Nonsense. I worked for a meat company in Topeka for five years when I was a young man. We started our work day at 6:00 AM sharp but were required to be there five or ten minutes early to get changed into a long white coat, white apron, and hard hat. The coat and apron was to protect our personal clothing from tears and blood and the hard hat was to protect our soft heads from hard knocks. The company provided the clothing and hats and paid to have them professionally cleaned for us. We had fresh clean ones each day. Changing clothes comes with the job. If you aren't willing to come in a few minutes early to change, choose another job. This lawsuit is bogus. Sour grapes.
September 2, 2008 at 5:38 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
positivethinker (anonymous) says...
I, too, am required to follow a dress code at my job. I am required to have an "appropriate and conservative" hair style. My dress code also requires me to wear panyhose or socks. Employees at my place of employment are expected to come to work clean and well groomed. I could go on, but you get the point. I could not just roll out of bed, dress in whatever I wanted and go to work. Most of us have dress code/job equipment requirements. I certainly don't get paid for dressing or grooming to get ready for work.
September 2, 2008 at 5:52 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
dhcc66 (anonymous) says...
so what..you are supposed to be able to walk in just as the clock hits 6am...or whatever time you are supposed to be there for work, or you want to get paid extra for it?
i get up an hour ahead of time for my job and get dressed, eat breakfast, and get to work a few minutes early because i'm grateful i have a decent job.
if you want better benefits, go somewhere else...geez. i've heard enough whining about tyson this, tyson that. you people wanting to file the lawsuit may just make tyson decide to move out permenantly. then what would you do? sue them for being efficient and closing a plant they don't want?
September 2, 2008 at 6:49 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
wyse_guy (anonymous) says...
These people cant work anywhere else they think somebody should pay them for nothing.First they thought tyson should pay more severance pay why because they cant get unemployment with a green card you have to be a united states citizen .I dont know of any job you can go to work and get ready at the time your suppose to start.Most jobs you wear your uniform to work so you get dressed at home,and dont get paid for it.Cry me a river and float back home.
September 6, 2008 at 10:53 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
apsuz (anonymous) says...
I have worked at 3 different packing plants (IBP in Emporia and 2 pork processing facilities), and not once got paid extra for changing clothes or washing equipment. I have also worked in several positions that required nursing scrubs, again not getting paid for changing in and out of uniform. When I've worked in restaurants, hotels, etc, I was not paid for changing in and out of clothing needed for those positions either. I currently work in a pork processing facility and have no complaints about the 5 minutes it takes me to change and the couple of minutes to wash my equipment. It's just ridiculous sue over something as frivolous as this. Kind of reminds me of lawsuits over hot coffee. Heck, I spend more time trying to find a parking spot at work (I work 2nd shift) than I do changing or washing my equipment. Maybe I should sue my employeer for the time, gas and wear/tear on my car when I'm driving around the parking lot or waiting for a spot for sometimes 45 minutes everyday. Oh wait, I could just go straight to the back of the parking lot and save 40 minutes plus get some exercise. But then I would have to sue because I didn't get to park as close as 1st shift. Or maybe I should sue because we aren't allowed to bring our own food in (for sanitation/pest control reasons) and I have to eat the food in the cafeteria if I'm hungry even though I don't like what they serve.
On the contamination issue, I agree that everyone should be careful no matter what their job. But I still have never had a job that paid me for changing just for that reason. Even in the 13 years I worked in long-term care, I didn't get paid to change in/out of scrubs. If I didn't want to leave the facility wearing the uniform I worked in, I was on my own time to change. Where I work now, we wear company-provided uniforms over our street clothes and steel-toed boots that are not allowed out of the facility unless they are not coming back in. We also have hand sanitation stations all over the plant, including near the entrance. Anything beyond that is a matter of personal hygiene, and therefore not the responsibility of the company. From the first day of orientation, a new hire is made aware of what we do and don't get paid for. Anyone that doesn't agree with company policy is free to leave and go work somewhere else. If you aren't aware of your company's policy on what you do and don't get paid for, it is your responsiblity to find out. Don't wait until you get laid off and sue for a few minutes of each day. I know time is precious, but this is just (for lack of a better word) stupid!
December 23, 2008 at 2:06 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )