Federal Judge Sides with IBP Employees

IBP Inc., purchased in a $4.6 billion package by Springdale’s Tyson Foods Inc. in September, has been ordered to pay $3.1 million to current and former employees at a plant in Washington state.

A federal judge ordered IBP of Dakota Dunes, S.D., to pay 815 past and present production line employees of the Wallula, Wash., plant for unpaid work. The plant has about 1,400 workers who process about 280 cows an hour.

IBP said it plans to appeal U.S. District Judge Robert Whaley’s ruling in the limited class-action lawsuit.

“For all of us, a dollar means a lot, and we should not be cheated out of receiving fair wages for doing what is required of us at our jobs,” said Maria Martinez, who worked at IBP for 12 years and helped lead a month-long wildcat strike over wages and working conditions at the plant in 1999.

David Mark, the Seattle lawyer representing the employees, argued that workers arrived at work between 30 to 45 minutes early and often stayed after their shifts another 20 minutes to remove, wash and store equipment. Employees, while off the clock during lunch, were required to remove their contaminated work gear before taking the break and then put it on again when the break ended. The suit claimed that IBP violated state and federal wage and hour laws.

Mark said IBP paid its employees with the “first cut of meat and stopped paying with the last cut of meat.”

“And they had to do a lot of work before they were ready to cut meat and a lot of work after they finished cutting meat,” Mark said.

IBP disagreed.

“Contrary to the claims made, we pay our team members for all of the production time worked,” IBP said in the statement. “We also pay for the time they spend immediately before and after work, putting on and taking off the clothing and equipment required for their jobs.”

The decision may expose IBP to similar lawsuits at other plants, said Corrie Yackulic, another attorney for the workers.