Marques Deloney filed a class-action complaint on Tuesday in the Southern District of Ohio against SK Food Group, a food manufacturing company, purporting that it does not compensate its employees for every hour they work, specifically for overtime hours. According to the complaint, the defendant is violating the Fair Labor Standards Act and the Ohio Minimum Fair Wage Standards.
The plaintiff was reportedly employed by SK Food Group between July 2018 and August 2019 at the defendant’s facility in Groveport, Ohio and was paid on an hourly basis. Deloney claimed that he and other similar employees classified like him as non-exempt frequently worked more than 40 hours a week, and that the plaintiff’s average hours worked was over 40 hours.
Deloney claimed that he was not paid for work before or after the time he was scheduled to work, including time used to get work assignments, prepare for work including changing into protective equipment, and doing production work. He argued that as this time spent getting assignments and preparing for war was required by SK Foods and was for the company’s benefit the employees should have received compensation for the work.
“The time Plaintiff and other similarly situated employees spent donning their personal protective equipment was not only an integral and indispensable part of their principal activities, but it was also required by the Defendant (and) the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, and was performed for Defendant’s benefit in that it helped keep the production floor safe,” the complaint reported.
The complaint alleged that each employee spent approximately 15 to 20 minutes each day doing unpaid work because of the policies of SK Foods. The plaintiff alleged that the defendant did not keep records of this overtime work and “knowingly and willfully” violated federal laws.
Deloney, represented by Lazzaro Law Firm, asked the court to certify a class of all SK Food Group non-exempt manufacturing employees during the last three years and award damages for unpaid wages to the class including interest and other fees.
