A California poultry processor, The Exclusive Poultry Inc., owned by Tony Bran, has been ordered by a judge to pay $3.8 million in back wages, damages, and penalties following a child labor investigation conducted by the United States Department of Labor (DOL). The investigation revealed that the processor endangered minor workers by employing children as young as 14 years old in tasks involving sharp knives for deboning poultry and operating power-driven lifts to move pallets. The company was also found to have subjected children to excessive working hours and to have cut wages for employees cooperating with the DOL investigation.
The investigation encompassed two poultry plants controlled by Bran in City of Industry and La Puente, California. It was discovered that Bran had established several front companies, including Meza Poultry LLC, Valtierra Poultry LLC, Sullon Poultry Inc., and Nollus’s Poultry LLC, to employ workers at these plants. In October, a California federal judge granted a preliminary injunction against Bran’s companies.
Under a November consent agreement, Bran and The Exclusive Poultry are required to pay $3.5 million in back wages and damages to affected workers, including $300,000 in punitive damages and $100,614 in back wages for those facing retaliatory conduct. Additionally, the companies must pay $201,104 in civil money penalties assessed by the division for child labor and willful violations.
The judgment mandates that Bran and The Exclusive Poultry retain a monitor for three years to ensure future compliance and provide hiring preference to workers fired after the department’s plant search.
The DOL has also urged downstream distributors, including Grocery Outlet, SYSCO Corp., ALDI, Nestle Purina, Royal Canin U.S.A. Inc., and Ralphs Grocery Company, to take action to “clean up the industry and protect themselves from potential liability.” The department suggests these companies can require written assurance from producers, manufacturers, and other dealers that the goods being produced and purchased comply with the Fair Labor and Standards Act requirements.
