The Department of Labor (DOL) reported that a Tennessee company employed minors to clean meat saws and head cutters at affiliated slaughterhouses in other states.
The Department of Labor on Wednesday asked a federal court to issue a temporary restraining order and nationwide injunction against Fayette Janitorial Service LLC, doing business as Fayette Industrial, to Stop Tennessee-based company from illegally employing childrenas the department continues its investigations into its employment practices.
Twenty-four minors, including 13-year-old boys, were hired to clean dangerous equipment in industrial slaughterhouses by Fayette Industrial, in violation of US law, the Department of Labor reported in a press release.
An investigation into Tennessee-based cleaning company Fayette Janitorial LLC found that the company illegally employed 15 minors during night shifts at a Perdue Farms poultry plant in Accomac, Virginia, already 9 more minors in a pork processor from Seaboard Triumph Foods in Iowa.
Among the minors hired were children up to 13 years old.
The minors were assigned to clean dangerous equipment in the slaughterhouse’s animal slaughter areas, such as animal head and neck cutters, jaw pullers, and meat band saws.
At least one 14-year-old at the Virginia facility suffered serious injuries while working for Fayette, the DOL detailed.
“The employment of children in hazardous occupations is a flagrant violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act that should never occur,” said Labor Attorney Seema Nanda.
“The Department of Labor continues to use all available legal remedies to protect workers and end child labor violations. “We are working diligently with other federal agencies to combat child labor exploitation across the country,” noted Nanda.
The Fair Labor Standards Act prohibits minors under age 18 from working in hazardous occupations, including most jobs in meat and poultry slaughtering, processing, processing and packaging establishments.
“Federal laws were established decades ago to prevent employers from profiting from employing children in hazardous jobs, but we continue to encounter employers who exploit children,” said DOL Wage and Hour Division Administrator Jessica Looman.
Fayette Janitorial Service LLC offers janitorial services to meat and food processors in approximately 30 states and employs more than 600 workers.
In February 2023, the DOL announced the creation of a task force to combat labor exploitation. In fiscal year 2023 955 cases of child labor violations were identified and more than $8 million in sanctions were imposed.
Among the cases is the death of Guatemalan Duvan Pérez, 16, who died after being sucked into a machine while cleaning it at the Mar-Jac Poultry MS LLC chicken processing plant, in the city of Hattiesburg, Mississippi. in July 2023.
Following an investigation, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), the DOL agency in charge of the investigation, reported that the company did not follow safety procedures, even though a manager supervised the area. Specifically, the machine was not disconnected from power to prevent it from being turned on inadvertently during the cleaning that Perez was performing.
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