On Oct. 4, a U.S. district court judge in Alabama denied a stainless-steel manufacturer's motion to overturn a ruling in wage and hour litigation brought by employees. The steelworkers won a $13.2 million award.
In Hornady v. Outokumpu Stainless USA, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Alabama entered a default against Outokumpu in November 2021, which the manufacturer tried to reverse. The workers claimed the employer didn't pay overtime at the correct amount, timely and for all time worked. They claimed the employer violated the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) by using a rounding policy in which employees' time worked was always rounded down in favor of the employer. They also alleged the employer didn't keep accurate wage records and didn't calculate wages according to a fixed, recurring 168-hour workweek.
The district court found that Outokumpu acted in bad faith and violated "discovery" orders by not submitting accurate and complete time and pay records to the court. In response, the company argued that it didn't violate any discovery orders and blamed its former lawyer for any bad faith conduct.
In the Oct. 4 final judgment, the court found the company forfeited its right to contest the default entry because it refused to participate in discovery. A reconsideration of a court order is available only when the organization involved presents "evidence of an intervening change in controlling law, the availability of new evidence, or the need to...
You are reading the second issue of the Disinformation Monitor. It is published on a monthly basis and provides an overview of developments on the disinformation scenes on NATO’s eastern frontier....