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Fair Labor Standards Act – Compensable Work Time

By: Derek Hawkins//July 6, 2017//

Fair Labor Standards Act – Compensable Work Time

By: Derek Hawkins//July 6, 2017//

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7th Circuit Court of Appeals

Case Name: Ryan DeKeyser, et al. v. ThyssenKrupp Waupaca, Inc. d/b/a as Waupaca Foundry, Inc.

Case No.: 16-2159

Officials: POSNER, MANION, and KANNE, Circuit Judges.

Focus: Fair Labor Standards Act – Compensable Work Time

Before us is an appeal by the defendant (Waupaca for short) in a class action suit brought against it in a federal district court in Wisconsin on behalf of a number of the workers that it employs in six foundries that manufacture ductile and gray cast iron parts for use in the automotive and other industries. Four of the six foundries are located in Wisconsin, and the remaining two in Indiana and Tennessee. The suit alleges that Waupaca violated the Fair Labor Standards Act, 29 U.S.C. §§ 201 et seq., by its long- standing practice of not treating the time that its foundry workers spend changing clothes and showering on-site at the end of a foundry shift to be compensable “work” time. The plaintiffs allege that they end their shifts covered in a layer of “foundry dust,” which can irritate the skin and cause lung disease if inhaled. Changing clothes and showering immediately after a shift, they argue, is indispensable to reducing the risk that foundry work poses to their health. The plaintiffs have also alleged violations of Wisconsin wage law.

The district court has certified the plaintiff class, now limited to Wisconsin plaintiffs, under Rule 23 and section 216(b), but has yet to determine whether the time spent changing clothes and showering is indeed “work” time compensable under the FLSA or, if it is, what damages the members of the plaintiff class are entitled to, to compensate them for Waupaca’s failure to have paid them for that time. Those determinations presumably will require a trial. For now we simply affirm the district court’s certification decision.

Affirmed

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Attorney Derek A. Hawkins is the managing partner at Hawkins Law Offices LLC, where he heads up the firm’s startup law practice. He specializes in business formation, corporate governance, intellectual property protection, private equity and venture capital funding and mergers & acquisitions. Check out the website at www.hawkins-lawoffices.com or contact them at 262-737-8825.

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