Workers waiting on the East Penn Manufacturing lawsuit payout do not yet have a public distribution date, but the money is now cleared to move. The U.S. Supreme Court denied East Penn’s final appeal on November 10, 2025, making the $22.25 million back-wage verdict final, and the Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division has begun its standard process for getting recovered wages into workers’ hands.1SCOTUSblog. East Penn Mfg. Co. v. Chavez-DeRemer No court filing, DOL press release, or company statement in the public record identifies a specific payout date for this case.
Why the Payout Is Moving Now
The jury returned its $22,253,087.56 back-wage verdict in May 2023 after a 30-day trial in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.2U.S. Department of Justice. East Penn Mfg. Co. v. Chavez-DeRemer, Brief in Opposition3FindLaw. Secretary, United States Department of Labor v. East Penn Manufacturing Company1SCOTUSblog. East Penn Mfg. Co. v. Chavez-DeRemer With that denial, the verdict is final and no further appeals are available.
Who Is Eligible
The judgment covers more than 11,780 uniformed employees who worked at East Penn’s Lyon Station, Pennsylvania campus between November 2015 and September 2021.2U.S. Department of Justice. East Penn Mfg. Co. v. Chavez-DeRemer, Brief in Opposition The unpaid time at issue was the minutes hourly workers spent before and after their scheduled eight-hour shifts putting on protective gear, changing into uniforms, and showering to guard against lead exposure. When those extra minutes pushed a worker past 40 hours in a week, they were entitled to overtime the company had not paid.4U.S. Department of Labor. Federal Jury Finds East Penn Manufacturing Violated Federal Law, Awards $22M in Back Wages
If you worked at Lyon Station during that window and wore a uniform, you are within the group the DOL is trying to pay.
How to Check Whether You’re Owed Money
The Wage and Hour Division tries to locate and notify every worker owed money after an enforcement win, but the agency does not always have current contact information for everyone. Two ways to check on your own:
- Search the DOL’s Workers Owed Wages tool at dol.gov/agencies/whd/wow. Enter East Penn Manufacturing as the employer and see whether your name appears.5U.S. Department of Labor. Workers Owed Wages
- Call the DOL’s toll-free helpline at 866-487-9243.4U.S. Department of Labor. Federal Jury Finds East Penn Manufacturing Violated Federal Law, Awards $22M in Back Wages
Filing a Claim and Getting Paid
To actually receive the money, an eligible worker submits a signed Back Wage Claim Form (WH-60) and verifies their identity. All back-wage payments have been issued electronically since October 2025, so you will need to provide account information for a direct deposit. The DOL’s stated processing time after it receives a completed claim form is about six weeks.5U.S. Department of Labor. Workers Owed Wages
Don’t wait indefinitely. If the Wage and Hour Division cannot locate a worker, it holds the unclaimed wages for three years and then sends the money to the U.S. Treasury, where it becomes much harder to recover.5U.S. Department of Labor. Workers Owed Wages The three-year clock is a strong reason to file promptly once your name appears in the DOL’s system.
How Much Each Worker Gets
The public record does not include a per-worker payout figure. The jury awarded a lump sum of $22,253,087.56 to be distributed across more than 11,780 employees, and individual shares depend on how much overtime each worker was shorted over the roughly six-year period.2U.S. Department of Justice. East Penn Mfg. Co. v. Chavez-DeRemer, Brief in Opposition The DOL’s case relied on an expert time study finding that donning and doffing took about 15.6 minutes at the start of a shift and 11 minutes at the end on average, well beyond the five-minute and ten-minute paid grace periods East Penn had built into the schedule.6Supreme Court of the United States. East Penn Mfg. Co. v. Chavez-DeRemer, Petition for Writ of Certiorari Because damages were calculated from actual time records rather than a flat formula, individual amounts vary by shift patterns and years of employment during the covered window.
One thing worth knowing about the size of the total: the trial court did not add liquidated damages, which would have roughly doubled the award to about $44.5 million. The court found East Penn had relied in good faith on its labor attorneys’ advice, and the Third Circuit affirmed that finding.3FindLaw. Secretary, United States Department of Labor v. East Penn Manufacturing Company The $22.25 million is what gets distributed.
Does East Penn’s Separate Fraud Lawsuit Affect Your Payout?
No. In 2024, East Penn filed a separate suit against the Department of Labor in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania (Case No. 5:24-cv-03077), alleging that the DOL’s lead trial counsel in the original wage case committed fraud by identifying himself to the jury as the agency’s “regional solicitor” after he had lost that title. Judge Jeffrey L. Schmehl denied the DOL’s motion to dismiss in October 2025, and the case is now in discovery.7Bloomberg Law. Battery Maker Beats DOL’s Bid to Quash Wage Case Fraud Lawsuit8CourtListener. East Penn Manufacturing Co. v. Lori Chavez-DeRemer
That case is legally distinct. The $22.25 million back-wage award has already been upheld through the Supreme Court’s denial of certiorari and is not on the table in the fraud suit. Whatever happens in the fraud case, the wage judgment stands and the payout process continues.
What to Do Right Now
If you worked at East Penn’s Lyon Station facility any time between November 2015 and September 2021, check the Workers Owed Wages database and call the DOL helpline if you do not find your name. Update any old contact information the company or the agency may still have on file, since the DOL will try to reach you at the address it has. And once you submit a WH-60, expect roughly six weeks for the electronic payment to arrive.