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Jury Sides With Tyson

Mike

Well-known member
Tyson let this go to court??????????????

Posted on Wed, Jun. 21, 2006
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Federal jury sides with Tyson on work rules; appeal planned
Associated Press

PHILADELPHIA - A federal jury in Philadelphia sided with Tyson Foods Inc. on Wednesday in a lawsuit over work rules at one of the company's poultry processing plants in Lancaster County, but an attorney for the plaintiffs vowed to appeal.

Attorneys had alleged in the 2000 lawsuit that workers at the company's New Holland complex were improperly denied payment for the time taken to put on and take off protective clothing before and after shifts and breaks. About 540 current or former workers eventually joined the suit.

The case hinged on whether those activities constituted "work" under federal law, and jurors in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania sided with Tyson, the world's largest meat company, after a day of deliberations following a 2 1/2-week trial.

"We're grateful for this ruling because it shows we're paying our people correctly for the time they devote to their jobs," Ken Kimbro, senior vice president of Human Resources for Springdale, Ark.-based Tyson Foods, said in a statement.

Kimbro said the company hoped the decision would clarify what he called "vague" federal labor regulations in the area.

Brian P. Kenney, one of the attorneys representing the plaintiffs, said they "vehemently" disagreed that the decision showed that workers were being properly paid.

He said the plaintiffs would appeal to the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals and take issue with the judge's instructions to the jury about the Fair Labor Standards Act.

"We intend to appeal and fully expect that the decision will be reversed on the basis of improper jury instructions," Kenney said.
 

Econ101

Well-known member
Tyson knows the federal courts are stacked in their favor right now. It is a disgrace from our judicial system. Of course Arlen Specter is Senator from Pennsylvania and this is his territory. Maybe Tyson thinks a win is here or just wants the legal process to discourage justice.

There were not enough details in this for me to see if this decision disagrees with an earlier unanimous Supreme Court Decision on similar issues.

Of course Arlen Specter is Senator from Pennsylvania and this could be a setup for him to spike the vollyball if he needs to look good.

Here is an excerpt from the process:

Ultimately, the problems inherent in the process of appointing federal judges affect the quality
of those serving on the federal bench. Maintaining the high quality of the federal judiciary is essential
to the administration of justice. If the problems in promptly filling judicial vacancies with high-caliber
appointees are not addressed, dockets will become even more crowded and we will find that justice
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delayed is justice denied. As Judge Learned Hand admonished almost a half-century ago, "If we are
to keep democracy, there must be one commandment: Thou shalt not ration justice."
II. Recommendations
A. Expediting the Selection of Judicial Nominees
To expedite the nomination process, the Commission offers the following recommendations
for consideration by senators and those officials in the administration involved in the process of
appointing federal judges.
1. Senators should identify candidates before a vacancy occurs, and those
candidates should be vetted promptly, either before the vacancy occurs or
within 30 days thereafter.
Identifying and vetting potential judicial nominees early is especially crucial in districts with large
numbers of judges and, hence, frequent vacancies.
2. Senators should recommend candidates no later than 90 days after a
judicial vacancy occurs.
3. Senators should recommend and prioritize two or more names for each
vacancy, thereby avoiding delays in case a potential nominee becomes
unavailable or undesirable.
These recommendations are especially important for solving the problems presented by
protracted vacancies on district courts that have heavy caseloads and numerous judges. If not
promptly filled, the frequent judicial vacancies that inevitably occur on such courts have a particularly
deleterious effect on the administration of justice.
With respect to the administration's role in screening and selecting nominees for federal
district courts, the Commission makes the following recommendations.
4. If a senator does not respond to the request for more than one name,
then the administration should advise the senator of additional persons whom
the administration would like to consider.
This recommendation is an attempt both to encourage the selection and nomination of the most highly
qualified judicial nominees and to avoid unnecessary delays should an initially considered candidate
prove undesirable.
5. Officials in the executive branch who are concerned with the selection
of judicial nominees should develop and maintain lists of prospective judicial

As you can tell, Senators have a big hand in the appointment procedures and Specter is a majority leader in the committee and the Pres. is in the same party. Arlen Specter got his start in politics after representing the East Coast "chicken mafia" leader, Frank Perdue.

Who appointed this judge anyway?
 
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