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Meat and poultry companies are showing no signs of slowing down their use of child labor despite the skyrocketing fines. The latest company to be penalized is a poultry processor in the Los Angeles area, which has been ordered to pay a hefty sum of $3.8 million in back wages, damages, and penalties.
Following federal penalties issued earlier this year, which totaled $1.5 million, the number of children involved in these investigations continues to rise. These children were employed by 13 meat plants in eight states through a contractor, Packers Sanitation Services Inc., to work in essential food safety roles.
The federal Labor Department is currently conducting 800 child labor investigations, with 5,792 minors found to be working in violation of the law. It’s possible that the FBI and Homeland Security are also involved in these cases, including those related to human trafficking.
The most recent violator, a California poultry processor, has been found to have employed children as young as 14 to debone poultry and operate power-driven lifts. These activities are not only dangerous for children but also violate federal child labor regulations.
The company has also been accused of retaliating against employees who cooperated with investigators by cutting their wages. As a result, they have been ordered to pay almost $3.8 million to settle these violations.
The violations can be traced back to two poultry plants controlled by the company’s owner, Tony Bran, in California. The investigation also revealed that Bran set up several front companies to employ workers at these plants, leading to consent judgments being filed against these companies and their owners.
Aside from the child labor violations, the company and its associated businesses were also found to have willfully failed to pay employees their required wages, including overtime. They were also found to have failed to maintain accurate records of their employees.
Finally, a temporary restraining order has been issued to prevent the company from shipping any “hot goods” into commerce until the matter is fully resolved.