Valente Sandoval Barbosa and Carolina Gaytan filed the suit on behalf of roughly 2,000 employees at the company's Liberal, Kan., facility. The lawsuit claims employees were systematically underpaid for time spent removing protective gear; walking to and from production lines; and waiting to clean equipment and for cleaning equipment and other activities.
The settlement impacts 480 employees who joined the class action. Both Gaytan and Barbosa will receive $3,500 while the other plaintiffs will be compensated according to a formula that factors in the amount of gang time worked at the Liberal plant, among other things. The settlement also states that National Beef will pay $350,000 to resolve wage and hour claims of the class, attorneys' fees and costs approved by the court and all court-approved service payments to Barbosa and Gaytan.
As part of the settlement, National Beef admits no liability or wrongdoing.
