This L.A. firm hired kids to debone poultry with sharp knives, drive fork lifts, Labor Department says
A Southern California poultry processor illegally employed children as young as 14 to debone meat with sharp knives and move pallets with power-driven lifts, the Labor Department said.
The poultry processor, which supplies grocery stores including Ralphs and Aldi, must pay nearly $3.8 million in fines and back wages after an investigation found the company employing children as young as 14 in dangerous jobs, retaliating against workers who cooperated with investigators and refusing to pay overtime wages, the agency said.
The Labor Department alleged that Exclusive Poultry Inc. and other companies owned by Tony Elvis Bran employed children who used sharp knives to debone poultry, operated power-driven lifts to move pallets and worked more hours than are allowed under child labor laws.
The company also allegedly cut the wages of workers who cooperated with investigators and did not pay workers proper overtime, according to the agency...