By Lori EhdeWorkers at Luverne’s Gold’n Plump chicken processing plant are finding themselves part of a class action lawsuit against the company.In January, the Minneapolis legal firm, Zimmerman Reed, published an advertisement in the Star Herald and other area papers. It said the firm was investigating claims of Gold’n Plump employees regarding the company’s pay practices.The ad, published Jan. 15, made the statement that fair pay is required by law and requested information be phoned or e-mailed to the firm — confidentially.At that time, Luverne’s Gold’n Plump staff reportedly knew nothing about the lawsuit or of alleged illegal pay practices.According to the complaint filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court, the suit stems from the commonly disputed "donning and doffing," issue over whether employees should be paid for time spent preparing for the job and preparing to leave the work site."… Gold’n Plump refuses to fully compensate its line employees for the time spent at the beginning of shifts changing into and sanitizing required gear and equipment, including boots, hair nets, smocks, aprons, and rain gear, and the end of shifts for removing and cleaning these same items," the complaint outlines."Similarly, Gold’n Plump does not compensate its line workers for time spent donning and doffing before and after their unpaid lunch breaks and paid work breaks."Gordon Rudd, the Zimmerman Reed attorney for the plaintiffs, said this is illegal and unfair."The impact of these wage violations is substantial and results in less money for the hard working people who earned it," Rudd said.Gold’n Plump employs 1,600 people in plants in Arcadia, Wis., Cold Spring and Luverne, but so far only six employees are signed on to the suit as plaintiffs, and they’re primarily from the Cold Spring plant.Rudd said Luverne employees, even if they don’t actively sign on to the class action suit, could be affected if the case proceeded successfully for the plaintiffs.Meanwhile, the case is apparently not an issue in Luverne, according to Luverne Plant Manager Greg Aubert."We have no direct knowledge of a complaint against us stemming from company pay practices," Gold’n Plump officials said in a statement released Tuesday."It is Gold’n Plump’s fundamental policy to follow all applicable wage laws and we believe we are in compliance with all such laws as currently interpreted by the courts."
