DES MOINES, Iowa — A Tennessee-based sanitation company has agreed to pay more than half a million dollars after a federal investigation found it illegally hired at least two dozen children to clean dangerous meat processing facilities in Iowa and Virginia.
U.S. law prohibits companies from employing people younger than 18 to work in meat processing plants because of the hazards. One 14-year-old was severely injured while cleaning the drumstick packing line belt at the plant in Virginia, the investigation alleged. The agreement stipulates that Fayette will hire a third-party consultant to monitor the company’s compliance with child labor laws for at least three years, as well as to facilitate trainings. The company must also establish a hotline for individuals to report concerns about child labor abuses.