Tennessee company fined $650,000 for illegally hiring children to clean meat processing plants

The U.S. Department of Labor announced on Monday that Fayette Janitorial Service LLC had entered into a consent judgment, agreeing to the hefty fines and a court-ordered mandate prohibiting the employment of minors. The investigation, conducted in February, uncovered that at least four children were still employed at an Iowa slaughterhouse as of December 12, 2023.

Federal law strictly prohibits the employment of individuals under the age of 18 in meat processing plants due to the inherent dangers involved.

The Labor Department’s findings revealed that Fayette had utilized 15 underage workers at a Perdue Farms plant in Accomac, Virginia, and at least nine at Seaboard Triumph Foods in Sioux City, Iowa. These minors were tasked with sanitizing perilous equipment such as head splitters, jaw pullers, and meat bandsaws in environments where animals are slaughtered and processed.

According to the investigation, one 14-year-old sustained severe injuries while cleaning the drumstick packing line belt at the Virginia plant. Both Perdue Farms and Seaboard Triumph Foods terminated their contracts with Fayette in response to the allegations.

As part of the agreement, Fayette is required to engage a third-party consultant to oversee compliance with child labor laws for a minimum of three years, alongside conducting training sessions. Additionally, the company must establish a hotline for reporting concerns related to child labor abuses.

A spokesperson for Fayette, speaking to The Associated Press in February, affirmed the company’s cooperation with the investigation and reiterated its “zero-tolerance policy for minor labor.”

The Labor Department has drawn attention to a concerning trend of child labor violations across the nation, including incidents like the fatal injury of a 16-year-old at a Mississippi poultry plant and the death of another 16-year-old in a Wisconsin sawmill accident. Last year, over 100 children were reported to be illegally employed by Packers Sanitation Services Inc. (PSSI) across 13 meatpacking plants, resulting in civil penalties exceeding $1.5 million.

Recent statistics from the Labor Department indicate an alarming 88% increase in the illegal employment of children in the United States since 2019.