Posted on 11/08/2005 10:17:02 AM PST by indianrightwinger
First Roberts Court rulings unanimous Justices hand business two defeats
Tuesday, November 8, 2005; Posted: 12:58 p.m. EST (17:58 GMT)
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Supreme Court ruled unanimously Tuesday that companies must pay plant workers for the time it takes to change into protective clothing and walk to their work stations.
The issue was one of two that justices settled in a pair of unanimous decisions, the first rulings under the leadership of Chief Justice John Roberts in the new fall term. Roberts did not write either one.
In a defeat for business, the court said that while employers aren't required to pay workers for time spent changing clothes, they must pay for the donning of "integral" gear and the time it takes workers to then walk to the production area.
The court, in a ruling by Justice John Paul Stevens, upheld a decision of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in favor of workers at a meat processing plant in Pasco, Washington.
"The relevant walking in this case occurs after the workday begins and before it ends," Stevens wrote.
The decision involves a plant owned by Tyson Fresh Meats Inc., a subsidiary of Tyson Foods Inc., and a separate Barber Foods chicken processing plant in Portland, Maine.
In a second ruling, the justices said the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals should reconsider whether federal officials can be sued for negligence over an accident in an Arizona copper mine.
(Excerpt) Read more at cnn.com ...
Tyson... friend of Clinton, as I recall...?
Just one question, Why is this a constitutional issue?
Yes, big friend of Clintoon!
It's probably an interpretation of a Federal law.
It's not, it's a federal question.
No, it is federal overtime rules, nothing to do with the commerce clause of the us constitution.
Yes why indeed. If an employer has a rule and the employee does not like it then how is this a federal issue? Where in the Constitution does this get covered?
correct.
It's not in the constitution, it is a federal law.
but i thought that covered everything ;)
Thanks for the extra info though!
LOL...yes, I bet Ted Kennedy (the best driver in the senate) would say it is covered by the commerce clause.
OK so why is it a federal law?
Like I said, shame on Tyson! Good for the USSC!!!!
Beginning with Article I. Congress has the power to pass federal statutes. Tyson is a "public" company, that is a company that is owned by stock holders who buy the stock throughout the USA. It is not just a family of chicken pluckers in their garage on the outskirts of Little Rock.
Federal labor standards based in the interstate commerce clause.
>>>Just one question, Why is this a constitutional issue?<<<
It is not. Therefore, it must be based on a previously usurped power by the federal government.
I agree
I am sure they don't pay an employee enough to actually support a small family on..
No doubt.
....but Tyson is ready to go to the USSC to avoid paying workers that are changing into protective gear!
Exactly. Tyson ran to the feds for protection of unfair labor practices and was refuted. Tyson was big enough to buy a state, but not the nation.
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