DES MOINES, Iowa (CN) — In a suit filed in federal court in Iowa Wednesday, the U.S. Department of Labor accuses a Tennessee janitorial service of violating child labor laws by hiring minors as young as 13 to work in meatpacking plants, cleaning kill floors and power equipment used to cut up animals.
The Department of Labor is asking the federal court to issue a nationwide temporary restraining order and injunction against Fayette Janitorial Service to stop the Tennessee-based company from what the Labor Department calls the illegal employment of children at all its locations while federal investigations continue into the company’s labor practices.
Fayette Janitorial Service contracts to provide cleaning services at meat and poultry slaughtering and packing plants in about 39 states and employs more than 600 workers. According to the Labor Department's complaint, Fayette employs minors in these jobs, some of whom work overnight shifts in violation of federal child-labor laws.
A Labor Department Wage and Hour Division investigation found that Fayette employs minors under the age of 16 at a Sioux City meatpacking plant owned or operated by Seaboard Triumph Foods during overnight shifts in which they work more than three hours in a day and more than 18 hours in a week while school is in session. The investigation also found that Fayette employs minors under the age of 18 to clean the killing floor and to clean power-driven machines, including meat and bone cutting saws, headsplitters, jawpullers and skinners.
“The employment of children in hazardous occupations is an egregious violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act that should never occur,” Solicitor of Labor Seema Nanda said in a statement.
In addition to the Sioux City meatpacking plant, the Labor Department says Fayette employs minors in slaughtering and meatpacking and processing plants throughout the U.S., including in Accomac, Virginia, at a Perdue Farms poultry processing facility.
“Federal laws were established decades ago to prevent employers from profiting from the employment of children in dangerous jobs, yet we continue to find employers exploiting children.” Wage and Hour Division Administrator Jessica Looman said. “As we’ve unfortunately seen in this case, employers’ violations of federal child labor laws have real consequences on children’s lives. Our actions to stop these violations will help ensure that more children are not hurt in the future.”
A Fayette spokesperson issued a statement in response to the Labor Department filing:
“Fayette Janitorial LLC has been fully cooperating and complying with an ongoing investigation by the Department of Labor in relation to events that occurred in prior years. Fayette has always had a zero-tolerance policy for minor labor in the workforce, and we have continued to work diligently to ensure that something like this cannot occur."
The spokesperson pointed to changes the company has made in the last two years in its hiring practices.
The spokesperson added: "Fayette Janitorial is committed to always providing a lawful, ethical employment, as well as a safe and secure work environment — adhering to any and all guidelines set in place.”
Follow @@roxalaird16
Subscribe to Closing Arguments
Sign up for new weekly newsletter Closing Arguments to get the latest about ongoing trials, major litigation and hot cases and rulings in courthouses around the U.S. and the world.
Additional Reads
-
-
Surgery retaliation April 25, 2024
-
Flirting with trouble April 25, 2024 -
