Butterball LLC might have unlawfully failed to pay its poultry processing employees for time spent by the employees donning and doffing protective clothing and sanitizing equipment.

This is an ongoing investigation into the employment pracitices in the poultry processing industry whcih has led to a pending class action lawsuit against Butterball LLC on behalf of former and current poultry processing employees.

Butterball is the largest turkey producer in the US, is headquartered in Garner, North Carolina.

The class action lawsuit, filed on Monday June 30, 2008 in federal court in Missouri, seeks to represent current or former employees at the Carthage, Missouri Butterball plant. A similar lawsuit was filed in April of this year on behalf of workers at the Butterball plant in Ozark, Arkansas.

The class action lawsuit alleges workers were not paid from the moment they start putting on and taking off protective clothing (donning and doffing), sanitizing gear and equipment, and walking to and from the production floor, as required by the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and various state laws.

The time workers spend getting ready for their shifts, and for finishing the end of their shifts, is significant – sometimes up to 30 minutes each day.