Mebane v. GKN

Mebane et al. v. GKN Driveline North America Inc.

A class action lawsuit was filed on October 23, 2018 against GKN Driveline North America Inc. (“GKN”), on behalf of workers throughout North Carolina. In October 2019, a motion to conditionally certify the class of some 2500 workers was filed and approved in part on November 5, 2020. U.S. District Judge Loretta C. Biggs approved collective/class certification on the claim that the company rounded down employees’ hours in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and the North Carolina Wage and Hour Act (NCWHA).

The lawsuit, Mebane et al., v. GKN Driveline North America, Inc., asserts that GKN has failed to pay its hourly employees for all pre- and/or post-shift activities performed outside of scheduled shift times and did not receive compensation for all hours worked in excess of 40 hours per week due to GKN’s practice of clock rounding. GKN compensates machinist, line inspectors, and other manufacturing floor employees on an hourly basis, classifying them as non-exempt under the FLSA. GKN required manufacturing floor employees to arrive prior to the start of their scheduled shift in order to perform a litany of tasks necessary to perform their jobs, such as checking the machines, preparing tools, setting up the machines with required water temperatures, setting machine gauges to zero, ensuring the work area was clean, and engaging in department meetings to receive daily assignments. At the end of shift, employees would then need to clean their work areas and input production data regarding the day’s work into GKN’s computer system. Plaintiffs allege that this is compensable time that should have been added to the employees’ recorded hours, and that all hours over forty (40) per work week should have been paid at the overtime premium rate.

Plaintiffs are represented by attorneys from The Law Offices of Gilda A. Hernandez, PLLC .

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Is This a Class Action? What Does that Mean?

This case is both a class action under state law and a collective action under federal law. Both class and collective actions provide a mechanism for a group of workers with similar claims to litigate those claims together in one case, and both require Court approval to proceed on a class basis. The federal claims proceed under a collective action which only includes individuals who consent to join the case, as described below. The state claims only apply to the specific states for which claims have been asserted, North Carolina, and will include all workers within those states who fall within the class definition.

Am I Eligible for the federal FLSA claim?

You may have a claim under the federal law if you (a) performed pre-shift work before your paid time began and, considering that pre-shift time, worked over 40 hours per week on a GKN manufacturing floor in the last three years; or (b) performed post-shift work after your paid time halted and, considering that post-shift time, worked over 40 hours per week on a GKN manufacturing floor in the last three years.

In order to make a claim, please complete a consent form (linked) and return it to our office. You can also sign up online by clicking here.

GKN Opt In Form

If you wish to opt out or exclude yourself from this lawsuit, please fill out the “opt out’ form.

GKN Opt Out Form

For a full understanding of this lawsuit and how it affects your rights, please see the attached Notice of Lawsuit.

GKN Notice