A federal jury has awarded more than $22 million in back wages to East Penn Manufacturing Co. employees after finding the company did not pay workers for the time it took them to change their clothes and shower.
The award is the largest ever recorded verdict under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.
East Penn officials said Wednesday that despite the announcement of the award they stand by the way they have paid employees.
The verdict came after a 30-day jury trial that resulted from a lawsuit against East Penn that was filed by the U.S. Department of Labor in 2018. The department claimed the Lyons-based company — one of the largest battery manufacturers in the world — failed to provide overtime pay to more than 7,500 uniformed workers between October 2014 and September 2017.
The department’s Wage and Hour Division began an investigation in 2016 that ultimately led to the suit.
The investigation found that East Penn typically only paid workers for their scheduled eight-hour daily shifts. However, they did not pay employees for the additional time it took them to put on and remove protective equipment or to shower to avoid the dangers of lead exposure and other hazards, the department said.
When that time was added in, employees were working more than 40 hours per week, which under federal law requires they receive overtime pay, the department said.
“This verdict of more than $22 million is a long-overdue victory for more than...
CLAIM: Video claiming President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. had resigned. RATING: FALSE A YouTube video falsely claimed that President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. had stepped down from office amid continue...