FORT SMITH — For a second time, a federal judge has ruled that a lawsuit filed by workers at a Gerber Products plant in Fort Smith should be heard in state court.
The workers want overtime pay for donning and doffing uniforms outside their work shifts and say they are also occasionally required to work through lunch periods. Five employees sued.
The Southwest Times Record reported that Gerber says a federal court should hear the case because it involves federal labor laws. As he did last year, U.S. District Judge P.K. Holmes III said the dispute is a state case.
He warned Gerber lawyers this week they were "precariously close" to violating court rules against raising issues already decided.