A Baltimore judge has ruled that unionized poultry workers at Arkansas-based Mountaire Farms must be paid for the time they spent donning and doffing protective gear in the plant, the Associated Press reported.

U.S. District Judge Andre M. Davis rejected Mountaire Farm's claim that their workers are already provided time to change clothes under their union agreement, writing in his published opinion that "at bottom, defendant posits an overly expansive definition of 'clothes' that does not distinguish between everyday clothing and personal protective gear."

The ruling affects 425 employees of Mountaire Farms who claim that the company violated the federal Fair Labor Standards Act by failing to pay overtime at two southern Delaware plants for time spent donning and doffing. The ruling will also allow 150 plaintiffs at a Selbyville, Del., plant who are members of the United Food and Commerical Workers and International Brotherhood of Teamsters to carry on with their lawsuit.

This is the latest in a series of donning and doffing rulings to affect the poultry industry.
There will also be a trial on the remaining issues in the lawsuit, including whether or not donning and doffing time illegally encroaches on the Mountaire Farms workers' half-hour lunch break.

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