Hunton & Williams LLP Successfully Represents Tyson Foods, Inc. in Wage-Hour Class Action Trial

Hunton & Williams LLP successfully represented Tyson Foods, Inc., one of the world’s largest meat processors, in the trial of a class action case, brought under the Fair Labor Standards Act and Nebraska Wage Payment and Collection Law, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Nebraska. The question presented to the jury was whether approximately 8,000 current and former meatpacking workers must be paid for the time they spend putting on and taking off safety and sanitary clothing, walking to/from their workstations, and washing up after shift. After deliberating only two hours, on May 26, 2011, the Omaha jury decided that Tyson had not underpaid workers at its Lexington, Nebraska beef-processing plant.

Plaintiffs had initially sought approximately $21 million for these activities (before doubling based on Plaintiffs' allegation of a "willful" violation). While these 'donning and doffing' cases against employers have proliferated over the past decade, this victory marks only the third time that an employer has won a complete defense verdict in a jury trial. Hunton & Williams partner Michael J. Mueller, along with Counsel Evangeline C. Paschal, presented the case along with local counsel from the Omaha firm Baird Holm.

The Hunton & Williams labor and employment practice covers the entire spectrum of labor and employment litigation, including employment litigation (class and single-plaintiff cases), wage and hour litigation (class and single-plaintiff cases); traditional labor; arbitrations; administrative practice before the NLRB, EEOC, and the Department of Labor; federal contract compliance; privacy obligations; non-compete obligations; Occupational Safety and Health Act standards; workers’ compensation; immigration; public accessibility; and client counseling under federal and state antidiscrimination statutes; and other labor and employment laws.