New National Unpaid Pre-Shift Work Overtime Lawsuit Filed Against DuPont for Manufacturing Workers
Our experienced unpaid overtime attorneys have recently filed a new collective action lawsuit against DuPont for its alleged policy of not compensating hourly production / manufacturing employees for time spent working before the scheduled start of their shifts.
The lawsuit alleges that DuPont’s hourly production and manufacturing employees are required to arrive to work before the scheduled start of their shifts in order to perform certain integral and indispensable work tasks. Specifically, DuPont’s production and manufacturing employees are required to remove their “street” clothes and put on certain safety equipment such as Nomex, boots, gloves, coveralls, and other equipment. After putting on this safety equipment, DuPont then requires the production and manufacturing employees to perform a “shift relief” or “shift turnover” process with the production / manufacturing employee being relieved.
All of these tasks occurred before the scheduled start of the employees’ shift and were not compensated. The lawsuit alleges that because employees were not paid for these integral and indispensable pre-shift tasks, DuPont has violated federal law and owes its hourly production and manufacturing employees significant unpaid overtime. DuPont was previously sued for the same violation at its Pennsylvania production facility. Ultimately, DuPont lost that case at the Third Circuit and a settlement was reached for the production and manufacturing workers at DuPont’s Towanda facility.
The new national lawsuit was filed in the United States District Court for the District of Delaware, and is called Millege v. DuPont De Nemours, Inc., et. al, Case No. 1:23-cv-00908. The law firms representing the hourly production employees are Coffman Legal LLC, Nilges Draher LLC, and Farnan LLP.
Has DuPont been sued for this same issue before?
Yes! DuPont was sued for not paying production / manufacturing workers at its plant in Towanda, Pennsylvania in November 2012. In that case, DuPont asked to be excused from paying production and manufacturing workers for their pre-shift work because it argued that it provided a paid meal break. The Third Circuit Court of Appeals ruled against DuPont and concluded that it could not offset unpaid work time with a paid meal break. The Third Circuit Opinion was filed on October 7, 2016. After it lost at the Third Circuit, DuPont settled the claims by creating a settlement fund of $5,000,000. Only the claims of the production workers at the Towanda, Pennsylvania plant were resolved.
There is also a currently pending lawsuit for the same issue for Ohio employees. The Millege lawsuit is filed on behalf of non-Ohio employees.
Who do I contact to learn more about the overtime lawsuit against DuPont?
If you believe that you are entitled to unpaid wages and you have questions about this DuPont overtime lawsuit for production and manufacturing workers, please contact our experienced unpaid overtime lawyers by phone at 614-949-1181 or by emailing mcoffman@mcoffmanlegal.com. We would be happy to speak with you in a free and fully confidential consultation.
DuPont cannot retaliate against anyone who joins or participates in the overtime case.
The Fair Labor Standards Act prohibits employers from retaliation. It is against the law for employers (and any person as defined under the law) to “discharge or in any other manner discriminate” against an employee because an employee joins a wage and hour case or otherwise testifies in it. If DuPont retaliates, then it can be held liable for remedies that include employment, reinstatement, lost wages, and double damages (liquidated damages). More information about the protection from retaliation can be found on the U.S. Department of Labor here. If you have experienced or are concerned about retaliation, please contact our experienced employment lawyers so that we can explain your rights and protections.
