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.