000230 Tyson Says Labor Dept. Auditing Wage PracticesFebruary 19, 2000Washington - The U.S. Department of Labor is conducting a nationwide audit of wage and hour practices in the poultry industry, the world's largest chicken and poultry producer Tyson Foods Inc. said. The audit is looking into the pay practices related to processing plant and catching crew employees, according to Tyson's quarterly report filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission where the audit was first revealed. The examination includes practices which are the subject of a lawsuit against Tyson in which employees have claimed the company allegedly failed to pay them for all hours worked and improperly paid them for overtime hours, according to Tyson's filing. The Department of Labor began its audit on Feb. 9 at 17 poultry plants, including five facilities owned by Tyson, and will eventually include 51 plants, the filing said. A Labor Department spokeswoman was not immediately available for comment. Tyson spokesman Ed Nicholson declined to comment beyond the details in the filing. The lawsuit against Tyson, which had been previously disclosed, was filed June 22, 1999 by 11 current and former employees in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama. Additionally, 159 current or former employees consented to join the lawsuit when the suit was filed, and now about 4,500 consents have been filed with the court. The case is in the discovery stages and a hearing has been set for March 6 to consider a request by the plaintiff for collective action certification. “The company believes it has substantial defenses to the claims made and intends to vigorously defend the case,” Tyson said in the filing. The poultry company said similar suits have been filed against three other poultry companies, which were not named.
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