Tyson Foods petitions Supreme Court over worker suit

Springdale-based Tyson Foods has petitioned the Supreme Court to overturn a judgment and $5.8 million award for workers in its Storm Lake, Iowa pork processing plant. This has been a long fought battle between Tyson and its labor who claims they there were not fully paid for the time spent donning and doffing protective gear required for the job prior to 2010.

The suit (Tyson Foods Inc. v. Bouaphakeo) involves past and present workers in this facility who previously won their case in U.S. District Court with a $5.8 million award and attorneys fees. Tyson Foods appealed the judgment to the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals that upheld the lower court’s ruling.

In its petition to the Supreme Court Tyson argued that the Eighth Circuit wrongly certified the lawsuit as a class action.