About 3,800 employees of Fredericksburg chicken processor Bell & Evans will be paid overtime for hours worked in 2020, following a class action lawsuit settlement stemming from mandatory COVID testing.
The employees, at three locations, were required by the company to undergo COVID-19 screenings during the pandemic. The time involved pushed them over 40 hours worked in one or more work weeks, but the company denied they were owed overtime for testing.
The employees filed suit, alleging that the federal Fair Labor Standards Act and several other state and federal laws required overtime payment for hours worked above 40 per week, including the time spent testing and going to and from testing sites.
On Friday afternoon, April 5, attorneys for both sides told Lebanon County Common Pleas Court Judge Bradford Charles that they had reached an agreement. Bell & Evans will create a $412,250 settlement fund to pay 3,842 affected employees a base amount of $10 each, plus an amount based on the number of weeks an employee underwent screening.
The employees’ attorney, Marielle Macher of the nonprofit Community Justice Project, told Charles that the average per-employee payout is expected to be about $100.
After questioning the attorneys to ensure that all entitled employees had been located and notified of the settlement, and that money would be held back for one year to pay any unlocated employees who might turn up later, Charles signed a court order making the settlement final.
As part of the settlement, Bell & Evans did not admit any wrongdoing, and the lawsuit will be officially terminated.
A class action is a single lawsuit brought by a group of plaintiffs who all claim to have suffered the same injury or loss. Class actions avoid the unnecessary time and expense of duplicate suits.
Settlements in Pennsylvania class actions must be reviewed and approved by a judge to ensure that all class members have been located and notified, given a chance to opt out of the suit or object, and that the settlement terms are fair and adequate.
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