Wage and hour · Federal · FLSA and state law
Tyson Foods, Inc. v. Bouaphakeo
577 U.S. 442 · Supreme Court of the United States · 2016
Pork processing employees claimed unpaid overtime for donning and doffing protective equipment. Because the employer had not kept records of that time, the employees relied on a representative study of average donning-and-doffing minutes to prove class-wide liability and damages.
The Court allowed representative and statistical evidence to support a class where the employer's own failure to keep records created the evidentiary gap.
Class and collective action; judgment for the employees affirmed
Reported outcome
Affirmed for the employees; class treatment upheld.
Completeness reading
89/100
ignita-completeness-v1 · illustrative
Preview. Not legal advice. Attorney-reviewed: false.
The events, kept in order.
Drawn from the reported decision. Nothing is interpreted at this stage — each entry simply holds when it happened and what happened.
Practice
Protective gear required for processing work
Employees donned and doffed equipment before and after production time.
Protected activity or key conduct
Gap
Employer kept no records of that time
No timekeeping data existed for the donning-and-doffing periods.
Method
Representative study introduced
An expert study of average times was used to establish class-wide liability and damages.
Outcome
Class verdict upheld
The use of representative evidence was held permissible on this record.
What the engine reads here
This is the clearest proof that pattern beats anecdote. No individual worker's memory carried the case — the aggregate distribution did. It is also why one strong individual record matters: it anchors the sample.
Pattern and class signal
Class established. The missing employer records were what made representative proof both necessary and permissible.
Preview. Not legal advice. Attorney-reviewed: false.
Your own record
Every matter here began as small, ordinary entries someone almost didn't keep.