Department of Labor seeking workers owed back wages, damages after recovery of $3.8M from owner of 5 defunct La Puente, City of Industry poultry companies

WEST COVINA, CA – Employees of five California poultry processing companies in La Puente and City of Industry may be owed a share of more than $3.8 million in back wages and damages recovered on their behalf by the U.S. Department of Labor.

The department’s Wage and Hour Division is seeking people employed by The Exclusive Poultry, Meza Poultry, Valtierra Poultry, Sullon Poultry or Nollus’s Poultry whose owner, Tony Bran, failed to pay the full wages owed to workers. People employed by these companies between Aug. 1, 2020, and Sept. 28, 2023, should contact the division’s West Covina District Office at (626) 732-1070 to determine if they are owed back wages and damages.

The effort to locate these workers follows a consent judgment the department obtained in November 2023 in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California to resolve the department’s lawsuit against Bran. In its action, the department alleged Bran and his companies violated child labor laws, failed to pay workers required wages and retaliated against employees who cooperated with investigators by firing them. 

“We must ensure these workers receive all of the wages and damages owed to them,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director Daniel Pasquil in West Covina, California. “While the division and the Office of the Solicitor have worked tirelessly to hold Tony Bran accountable, our work is not complete until the workers receive their share of the $3.8 million we successfully recovered.”

One of Bran’s companies, The Exclusive Poultry, supplied chicken products to retailers and distributors such as ALDI, Grocery Outlet, Nestle Purina, SYSCO Corp., Ralphs Grocery Company and Royal Canin U.S.A. Inc.

Learn more about the Wage and Hour Division, including a search tool to use if you think you may be owed back wages collected by the division. Employers and workers can call the division confidentially with questions, regardless of where they are from. The division can speak with callers in more than 200 languages through the agency’s toll-free helpline at 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243). Download the agency’s new Timesheet App for iOS and Android devices – free and available in English and Spanish – to track hours and pay. 

This news release is also available in Spanish, Mam, and Q’eqchi’.