In a significant settlement, the owners and operators of a network of California poultry processors and distributors have been ordered to pay $4.8 million in back wages and damages, and forfeit $1 million in profits after a Department of Labor investigation revealed illegal employment of children as young as 14 in hazardous roles.
The wage settlement marks one of the largest ever reached for U.S. poultry workers, according to the DOL.
The investigation conducted by the department’s Wage and Hour Division uncovered violations involving A1 Meat Solutions, JRC Culinary Group, Moon Poultry, and five other businesses within the enterprise. Allegations included the employment of children in perilous conditions, such as using sharp knives for poultry deboning.
Moreover, investigators found evidence of overtime wage denial and falsification of payroll records to impede the probe. According to the DOL, supervisors at these facilities retaliated against workers by using derogatory language and altering terms of employment once the investigation began in January 2024.
Wage and Hour Administrator Jessica Looman stated, “The employers in this case illegally employed children, some as young as 14 years old, to work with extremely sharp-edged knives to quickly debone poultry and denied hundreds of workers nearly $2 million in overtime wages.”
Some of the implicated companies supplied chicken to pet food processors, casinos, and resorts in Nevada and California, according to the DOL.
The consent order, approved by a federal judge, mandates the employers to surrender $1 million in profits derived from goods tainted by oppressive child labor and pay assessed penalties of $171,919 for the violations. The agency emphasized that the discovery of “oppressive” child labor rendered the goods at these facilities as contraband, prohibited from entering commerce.
The companies’ owners have agreed to robust remedial measures to ensure future compliance, the Labor Department stated.
Last year, the Labor Department investigated 955 cases of child labor violations, involving 5,792 children nationwide, including 502 children employed in violation of hazardous occupation standards.
