De Asencio, et al. v. Tyson Foods, Inc.

Case Updates

Rejecting NCLC’s argument that the activities in question are not “work” and thus non compensable, the Third Circuit allowed the donning and doffing claims of chicken processing employees to go forward.

NCLC urged the appellate court to uphold the trial court decision in favor of Tyson Foods. The principal issue on appeal is the district court’s jury instruction on the meaning of “work” under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and whether time spent by employees working at a poultry processing plant taking off, putting on and washing certain clothing is compensable under the FLSA. While the Supreme Court has held that pre-donning waiting time is not compensable, and that post-donning and pre-doffing walking time are compensable, it did not consider whether the donning and doffing activities themselves are “work.” NCLC argued that the lower court in this case correctly held that those activities are not work and thus not compensable.