United States Sixth Circuit

In plaintiff's suit against Kellogg Company on behalf of herself and all similarly situated employees to recover wages under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) for time spent donning and doffing Kellogg's mandatory food safety uniforms and protective equipment, and for time spent walking to and from the changing area and the time clock, district court's grant of summary judgment in favor of Kellogg is affirmed in part, reversed in part, and remanded where: 1) section 203 is not an exemption and therefore not an affirmative defense; 2) the items at issue are clothes within the meaning of section 203(o); 3) the evidence demonstrates that there was a custom or practice of nonpayment for time spent changing clothes under a bona fide CBA, and as such, time spent donning and doffing the equipment is excluded from "hours worked" under section 203(o); 4) under the continuous workday rule, plaintiff may be entitled to payment for her post-donning and pre-donning walking time, and as such, the matter is remanded because there are questions of fact as to the length of time it took her to walk from the changing area to the time clock and whether that time was de minimis.

Appellate Information

• Argued 06/18/2010
• Decided 08/31/2010
• Published 08/31/2010

Judges

• SILER

Court

• United States Sixth Circuit

Counsel

• For Appellant:
  
• Rachhana T. Srey, Maurice Wexler