CITY OF INDUSTRY, CA – The U.S. Department of Labor has obtained a consent judgment in a federal court ordering a City of Industry meat processor and a Downey staffing agency to surrender $327,484 in illegal profits made from sales of products associated with oppressive, exploitative child labor. The judgment also requires the employers to pay the department $62,516 in penalties. 

The June 20, 2024, judgment in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California in Los Angeles follows an investigation by the department’s Wage and Hour Division that determined A&J Meats and The Right Hire jointly employed and endangered children as young as 15 by tasking them to use sharp knives, allowing them to work inside freezers and coolers, and to scheduling them to work at times not permitted by law, all in violation of federal child labor regulations.

“A&J Meats and The Right Hire knowingly endangered these children’s safety and put their companies’ profits before the well-being of these minors,” said Western Regional Solicitor of Labor Marc Pilotin in San Francisco. “These employers egregiously violated federal law and now, both have learned about the serious consequences for those who so callously expose children to harm.” 

Specifically, division investigators found that children worked at the facility more than three hours a day on school days, past 7 p.m. and more than 18 hours per week while school was in session. The Fair Labor Standards Act forbids employers from employing children under age of 18 in dangerous occupations, including most jobs in meat and poultry slaughtering, processing, rendering and packing establishments.

The judgment also forbids A&J Meats, owner Priscilla Helen Castillo, and The Right Hire staffing agency from future FLSA violations and from trying to trade goods connected to oppressive child labor. In addition, all three parties must also provide annual FLSA training for at least four years and submit to monitoring by an independent third-party for three years. 

Castillo’s father, Tony Bran, has also been the found illegally employing children at three poultry processing companies he operates. In October 2023, the same California court ordered his companies to stop endangering children, withholding pay, retaliating, and shipping “hot goods” produced in violation of overtime and child labor laws.

“No employer should ever profit from exploited children,” said Wage and Hour Division Regional Administrator Ruben Rosalez in San Francisco. “When we find children employed in violation of the law, we will take steps to ensure that we can hold all employers accountable under the law. Companies that use staffing agencies to meet their labor needs cannot escape liability for child labor violations when they are in fact also employers themselves.”

The department encourages businesses to monitor their supply chains closely to make sure the goods they purchase, produce and sell are not made with oppressive and illegal child labor.  

The department continues to combat child labor abuses and wage theft in the poultry and meat processing industries. This judgment follows numerous cases in California and nationwide where meat processing facilities were found illegally employing children and endangering their safety and wellbeing.

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. Workers and employers can call the division confidentially with questions or concerns – regardless of where they are from – and the department can speak with callers in more than 200 languages at its toll-free number, 1-866-4-US-WAGE (487-9243). Help ensure hours worked and pay are accurate by downloading the department’s Android and iOS Timesheet App for free in English or Spanish.

CHARLESTON, WV – An investigation and litigation by the U.S. Department of Labor has recovered $175,000 in back wages from a Charleston coal mining company that laid off 44 Matewan miners and denied them a final paycheck while filing for bankruptcy.

The department’s Wage and Hour Division learned Ben’s Creek Operations WV LLC informed the affected workers of the layoff on April 9, 2024, filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy five days later and then failed to issue the miners their last paycheck as required on April 19 for two weeks of work from March 31 to April 13, 2024. During that time period, the division determined the mine had produced about 40,000 tons of metallurgical coal worth more than $3 million. 

“Payroll before profit is one of the key principles in the Fair Labor Standards Act. A bankruptcy filing does not excuse an employer’s obligation to pay workers for all the hours they worked or allow them to violate federal law,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director John DuMont in Pittsburgh. “The Wage and Hour Division is committed to ensuring workers receive the highest protections to which they are entitled.”

On May 2, 2024, the department’s Office of the Solicitor obtained a temporary restraining order in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia to stop Ben’s Creek Operations WV from selling or moving the coal mined in its final two weeks of operation until they paid the back wages owed. Federal law prevents interstate shipment of goods produced in violation of minimum wage, overtime or child labor regulations and applies to the employer and all those in possession of the goods. 

The court issued a final order on May 10, 2024, that required the employer to pay all outstanding back wages. 

“Miners do difficult and often dangerous work to support the nation’s economy,” said Regional Solicitor Samantha Thomas. “The U.S. Department of Labor will use all necessary enforcement tools — including litigation — to stop employers from illegally profiting on the backs of workers, especially when the employer thinks they can deprive people of their hard-earned wages. We appreciate the court’s quick action and that the employer worked with us to ensure their former employees were paid as promised.”

The division’s Pittsburgh District Office conducted the investigation. Senior trial attorneys Elizabeth Kuschel and Alexander Gosfield with the department’s Office of the Solicitor in Philadelphia litigated the case.

Ben's Creek Operations WV LLC is a subsidiary of the London-based Ben’s Creek Group PLC, which owns and operates metallurgical coal mines across North America.

Workers and employers can call the Wage and Hour Division confidentially with questions, regardless of where they are from, and the department can speak with callers in more than 200 languages. 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. Download the agency’s Timesheet App, which is available in English and Spanish for Android and Apple devices, to ensure hours and pay are accurate.

CHANDLER, MN – A federal court in Minnesota has entered a consent judgment that requires a national food manufacturing company to comply with the federal child labor laws at all of its production facilities and warehouses nationwide, and to take significant steps to comply with these laws in the future.

The court’s action follows a U.S. Department of Labor investigation opened on March 28, 2023, at Monogram Meat Snacks LLC in Chandler, Minnesota, that found the company employed at least two 16- and 17-year-old children to operate meat-processing equipment in violation of federal child labor hazardous orders.

The company is a subsidiary of Monogram Food Solutions LLC in Memphis, Tennessee, manufacturer of meat snacks, appetizers, assembled sandwiches, baked goods and other convenience products for private label sale.

Shortly after investigation by the department’s Wage and Hour Division began, the department notified the employer that it objected to the shipment of goods from its Chandler facility and issued an “Objection to Shipment letter” that cited the Fair Labor Standards Act’s “hot goods” provision. The provision prevents employers from shipping goods produced illegally by child labor. On April 24, 2023, the company agreed to the department’s request and withheld shipment of the goods as discussions about compliance with the department continued.

The investigation of Monogram is part of the division’s overall effort to combat child labor announced earlier this year. Since 2018, the U.S. Department of Labor has seen a 69 percent increase in children being employed illegally by companies.

“The Department of Labor and the Biden-Harris administration see child labor as a scourge in this country and will not tolerate violations of child labor laws,” said Solicitor of Labor Seema Nanda. “This case shows we will use all of our legal resources, including invoking the ‘hot goods’ provision, as we announced as part of an increased emphasis on combating child labor, to prevent companies from profiting from illegal child labor. Regardless of age, all workers in the U.S. are protected under the Fair Labor Standards Act, and all employers must abide by all of its provisions.”

“As we made clear earlier this year, the Department of Labor and the Biden-Harris administration are committed to combating the increase we have seen in child labor violations,” said Principal Deputy Wage and Hour Administrator Jessica Looman. “In this case, Monogram should have never allowed two children to operate hazardous equipment. After our initial investigation, Monogram Meat Snacks and its parent company have agreed to take important steps to prevent future child labor violations. Employers are legally responsible for training their management, hiring specialists and front-line supervisors to recognize potential child labor violations and to take all appropriate actions to verify that they are not employing children and other young people illegally.”

On July 6, 2023, the U.S. District Court of Minnesota entered a consent order and judgment, in which Monogram Food Solutions LLC agreed to comply with the Fair Labor Standards Act’s child labor provisions at all of its production facilities and warehouses nationwide and ensure future compliance with child labor laws, including hiring an outside compliance specialist within 90 days.

The employer agreed to pay $30,276 in civil money penalties for the child labor violations in Chandler.

The department lifted its objection to shipment immediately after the order and judgment was executed and Monogram Food Solutions paid the civil money penalties.

In addition to paying the penalties, the company agreed to several conditions to ensure future compliance with the FLSA’s child labor provisions including:

• Hiring a third-party consultant or compliance specialist within 90 days to monitor compliance with child labor provisions at the Chandler facility for 3 years and at Monogram’s other facilities for 2 years.
• Using the division’s Youth Employment Compliance Assistance Toolkit to identify materials for use in training employees, provided in a language understood by workers; and maintaining training logs.
• Auditing machinery at all facilities and affixing special stickers to machines that workers under age 18 cannot operate legally.
• Establishing a toll-free number for employees to seek guidance and report compliance issues with the FLSA child labor provisions anonymously.
• Notifying the Wage and Hour Division immediately of child labor violations found and cure such violations within 10 business days.
• Submitting an initial report to the division, within 180 days, outlining steps taken to comply with the requirements of the consent order and judgment and provide annual reports.
• Notifying the department, for 180 days following execution of the order and judgment, of each employee employed at the Chandler facility whose employment ended, either voluntarily or involuntarily, after March 29, 2023.

While Monogram Meat Snacks is a subsidiary of Monogram Food Solutions LLC in Memphis, Tennessee, Monogram Management Services Inc. is the named employer of all Monogram employees. In addition to its Chandler location, Monogram operates and employs workers in meat-packing establishments in Indiana, Iowa, Massachusetts, Tennessee, Virginia and Wisconsin.

Learn more about the Wage and Hour Division.

SAN DIEGO – Official merchandise for artists including the Rolling Stones, Britney Spears, Lady Gaga, Willie Nelson or Ariana Grande may have been made by workers at a San Diego silk-screening contractor who denied them the wages they earned for their work.

An investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division has concluded that King Graphics in San Diego, a contractor for numerous entertainment merchandise manufacturers, shortchanged workers of wages by failing to pay overtime at time and one-half the required rate of pay for all hours worked over 40 in a workweek, a violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act. 

On Sept. 15, 2021, Wage and Hour investigators visited King Graphics and requested that the employer refrain from shipping “hot goods” made in violation of the FLSA. The employer agreed to withhold shipment of a truckload of Britney Spears’ T-shirts headed to Target stores and other items for sale at retailers such as Aeropostale, Footlocker, Hot Topic, Kohl’s, PacSun, Target and Urban Outfitters.

Under the FLSA’s “hot goods” provision, the department can seek a court order to prevent the interstate shipment of goods that were produced in violation of the minimum wage, overtime, or child labor provisions of the FLSA. The order can apply not only to the employer who produced the goods but to anyone in possession of the goods. King Graphics agreed to pay $10,473 to lift the hot goods hold.

After the division’s investigation was concluded, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California entered a consent judgment in April 2022 under which King Graphics agreed to pay $134,957 in overtime pay and an equal amount in liquidated damages, a total of $269,914 to the affected 76 workers. King Graphics will make this payment through a related class action lawsuit brought by the employees. King Graphics will also pay $10,473 in civil money penalties for these willful violations. The court also ordered the employer to hire an independent third-party to monitor future FLSA compliance.

“Celebrities, retailers and manufacturers profit from T-shirts sold for $40 or more, while the low-wage workers who produce the merchandise work overtime to meet consumer demand and become victims of wage theft,” said Acting Administrator of the Wage and Hour Division Jessica Looman. “The Wage and Hour Division will continue to hold employers accountable and use every available tool to ensure that workers are paid in compliance with the law.”

As a result of the King Graphics’ investigation, the division also investigated manufacturers who violated the FLSA by receiving and distributing the hot goods. These manufacturers include Solento Inc. in Encinitas, Bravado International Group in Hollywood, Civile Apparel LLC in San Diego and Artists Merchants and Lasso Gear in Los Angeles, California; Sony Music Entertainment in New York City and The Loyalist in Brooklyn, New York; Local Motion Inc. in Honolulu, Hawaii; and Captain Fin in Wilmington, North Carolina.

The manufacturers cooperated with investigators, submitted the requested records and provided assurances to the department that they will comply with FLSA, and perform due diligence to avoid future violations.

“A manufacturer or retailer must ensure their supply chain is free of ‘hot goods’ – products produced by workers whose legal rights have been violated – or risk legal liability,” added Looman. “All parties, from the entertainers to the distributers and wholesalers, should ensure their profits aren’t supported by workers in sweatshops, many of whom are immigrant women supporting families.”

For more than 20 years, King Graphics has operated a silk-screening and embroidery shop, finishing all types of garments and promotional items. The company claims to print about 30,000 items per day.

Counsel for Wage and Hour Boris Orlov of the department’s Office of the Solicitor in Los Angeles negotiated the joint resolution of this case and a private class action during mediation with King Graphics.

The division enforces the law regardless of a worker’s immigration status and can speak confidentially with callers in more than 200 languages. For more information about the FLSA and other laws enforced by the division, contact its toll-free helpline at 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243). 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.