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Shellist Lazarz Slobin recently filed a class-action lawsuit against Tyson Prepared Foods, Inc. on behalf of production supervisors who were misclassified and underpaid by the company.
According to the amended complaint, Tyson violated the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) by failing to pay production supervisors overtime. Although the employees had the production supervisor title, they spent approximately 90% of their time on the production line performing the same work as the hourly employees they were “supervising.”
These employees did not have hiring or firing powers, nor did they set other employees’ schedules. Nevertheless, the production supervisors were misclassified as salaried workers and deprived overtime – even when they frequently worked as many as 80 hours per 7-day workweek and performed essentially the same duties as non-exempt employees.
Misclassified Production Supervisor Takes the Lead
The leading plaintiff worked as a production supervisor for Tyson for approximately 20 years. During this time, he never had the ability to exercise independent judgment nor participate in significant business matters. Conversely, he completed manual labor and “occasionally provided guidance and encouragement” to the workers he was supposedly supervising.
Under the FLSA, employees must be classified based on the nature of their duties, not their job titles. Many employees are misclassified, believing titles like “supervisor” and “manager” make them ineligible for overtime.
The complaint we filed on our client’s behalf is “a putative collective action on behalf of all other similarly situated employees,” which means other Tyson employees can join the class-action lawsuit if they suffered misclassification and did not receive overtime wages. All plaintiffs are suing for damages, or monetary compensation to account for the overtime they did not receive.
If you worked for Tyson as a production supervisor within 3 years of June 23, 2020, and you did not get overtime for the time you worked in excess of 40 hours a week, please contact our firm to learn more about joining the class action.
Wage and Hour Complaints in Meat Packing and Other Industries
At Shellist Lazarz Slobin, we handle employment law violations in the meat packing industry, as well as wage and hour complaints on behalf of employees in all industries.
Being misclassified is a common problem, so if you do not receive overtime after working more than 40 hours per workweek, you can contact us – even if your job title suggests you should be salaried.
We can evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of your case and help you take the best course of action as soon as you call us at (713) 352-3433.