Meat processor, staffing agency ordered to surrender $327K in child labor bust in City Of Industry

A City of Industry meat processor and Downey staffing agency was ordered to surrender over $327K in illegal profits after employing minors as young as 15, the U.S. Department of Labor announced on Tuesday. 

An investigation led by the department's Wage of Hour Division revealed meat processor A&J Meats and staffing agency The Right Hire "jointly employed and endangered children."

The judgment, made by the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California in Los Angeles, also requires the employers to pay the department $62,516 in penalties. 

The illegal and oppressive practices include ordering children to use dangerous knives, allowing them to work inside freezers, scheduling them to work at unlawful times exceeding limits set by Child Labor Laws.

According to the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), minors under the age of 18 cannot be employed in hazardous occupations and “cannot do most jobs in meat and poultry slaughtering, processing, rendering or packing establishments.”

Since 2018, the U.S. Department of Labor has seen a 69% increase in children being employed illegally by companies. 

Simultaneously, there has been a great influx of migrant children from Latin America fleeing violence and poverty, who are especially vulnerable in the face of illegal child employment, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.

“This is not a 19th-century problem – this is a today problem. This is a problem that will take all of us to stop,” said U.S. Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh.

Walsh stressed that companies often push the responsibility of illegal child employment to their staffing agency or subcontractor, which is unlawful.

“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.” Wage and Hour Division Regional Administrator Ruben Rosalez also warned.

A&J owner Priscilla Helen Castillo’s father, Tony Bran, also has a record of illegally employing children at poultry processing companies.

Bran employed children as young as 14 to debone poultry using sharp knives and operate power-driven lifts to move pallets. 

Last year, the same court ordered Bran to “stop endangering children, withholding pay, and retaliating, etc.,” making him and his companies pay $3.5 million in back wages and damages to workers. 

Besides paying nearly $400K, the businesses and A&J owner Castillo are now required to provide annual FLSA training for at least four years and submit to monitoring by an independent third party for three years.

“No employer should ever profit from exploited children,” Administrator Rosalez announced in the news release. “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.”

To report a labor law violation, visit the California Labor Commissioner’s Office website or contact the Wage and Hour Division with questions or concerns at 1-866-4-US-WAGE.