High Court Asked to Overturn Wage Theft Verdict

Tyson Foods has asked the Supreme Court to dismiss a wage theft lawsuit that resulted in a $6 million jury verdict in Iowa. About 3,000 low-income workers argued that Tyson failed to keep wage and hour records and did not pay employees overtime as required by the Fair Labor Standards Act. Tyson is asking the Court to dismiss the case based on how the lost wages were calculated, using statistical averaging in the absence of time records. The jury concluded that, between 2004 and 2010, Tyson had stiffed workers nearly $3 million in wages under its “gang” hour estimation system.