Case: BELUE v. WAYNE FARMS, LLC

This case was transferred from the Northern District of Alabama and is a later development of the case.

On October 18, 2006, several current and former employees of the defendant's Albertville, Alabama facility filed a lawsuit against the company under the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (FLSA), 29 U.S.C. §§ 201 et seq., in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama, Middle Division. The plaintiffs, represented by private counsel, brought this class action seeking damages and injunctive relief, claiming that the defendant Wayne Farms violated the FLSA. Specifically, the plaintiffs claim the company failed to account for all compensable time of its employees, including time spent clearing security and time walking to and from security to donning and doffing areas.

On June 7, 2007, the District Court (Judge R. David Proctor) ordered the case stayed because the court had received Defendant's Notice of Motion to Transfer and Consolidate for Pretrial Proceedings to the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation.

On November 5, 2007, the U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation ordered that the case be transferred to the Southern District of Mississippi.

On October 9, 2008, the defendant filed a motion for partial summary judgment, which was granted on December 17, 2008, holding that seven plaintiffs' claims were time-barred.

On October 15, 2008, the defendant filed a motion for partial summary judgment, which was granted on December 17, 2008, on the ground that two plaintiffs failed to list the FLSA claim as an asset in their bankruptcy petitions and thus were estopped from asserting the claim.

On November 17, 2008, the defendant filed a motion for partial summary judgment, which was granted on December 18, 2008, on the ground that one plaintiff never worked more than 40 hours in any contestable work week and thus, did not have an FLSA overtime claim.

On November 24, 2008, the defendant filed a motion for partial summary judgment, which was granted on December 19, 2008, on the ground that 3 plaintiffs worked only as Quality Assurance employees and had been paid already for all the activities cited in the Complaint.

On April 9, 2009, the parties reached a settlement. On August 17, 2009, the District Court (Judge Keith Starrett) granted preliminary approval to the terms of the settlement agreement, which provided that defendant pay $1,375,000 (which included attorneys' fees).

On March 31, 2010, the District Court (Judge Starrett) issued the Judgment of Dismissal. However, on June 10, 2010, the Court reopened the case for the limited purpose of filing the distribution plan. The court ultimately closed the case on September 1, 2010.