Two lawsuits have been filed and are both seeking class action status against the two meatpacking plants for allegedly failing to pay thousands of workers for time spent donning and doffing. The lawsuits were filed on behalf of current and former employees and claim Greater Omaha Packing and Nebraska Beef violated Nebraska state and federal wage and labor laws for years. The workers are seeking unpaid wages and overtime for time spent before and after assembly line work, including time spent putting on uniforms and safety gear, sanitizing equipment, retrieving, sharpening and putting away knives, walking between work sites, and other duties.
The suits claim unpaid work amounts to between 30 and 40 minutes each day per worker. An estimated 1,500 former and current workers at Greater Omaha and 1,800 workers at Nebraska Beef have been affected over the past four years.
