September 10, 2008
The state of Iowa has filed criminal charges against Agriprocessors,
Inc., a meat packer, claiming a staggering 9,000 violations of the
state's child labor law.
Defendants named in the Complaint and Affidavit are Agriprocessors, Inc.; Abraham Aaron Rubashkin, principal owner and president of Agriprocessors; Sholom Rubashkin, manager of the slaughtering and meat packing plant at Postville, Iowa, and an officer; Elizabeth Billmeyer, human resources manager of Agriprocessors, Inc.; and Laura Althouse and Karina Freund, management employees in the human resources division of Agriprocessors, Inc.
The Complaint alleges a total of 9,311 child labor violations, involving 32 youths under the age of 18. Seven of the 32 also were under age 16. The alleged violations date back to Sept. 9, 2007, for some of the children, and to as recently as May 12, 2008, when Federal officials raided the Postville plant.
The violations all are simple misdemeanors, each punishable by up to 30 days in jail and/or a fine of $65 to $625.The company's hiring practices encouraged job applicants to submit identification documents which were forgeries, and known to contain false information as to resident alien status, age and identity, according to the Complaint.
The Complaint alleges violations of five sections of the Iowa Child Labor law, Iowa Code Ch. 92: employing a child under age 18 in a meat packing plant; employing a child under age 18 in an occupation that exposes the child to dangerous or poisonous chemicals; employing a child under age 16 who operated power machinery; employing a child under age 16 who worked during prohibited hours or more hours in a day than permitted by law; and employing a child under 16 who worked more hours in a week than permitted by law.
The Complaint and Affidavit also enumerates more than 1500 violations relating to hours worked, including employee-victims under age 16 who worked more than eight hours on specified days, and more than forty hours in specified weeks. The Complaint also alleges records show instances of children under age sixteen working before 7 a.m. and after 7 p.m., and, while school was in session, working more than four hours in a day and more than 28 hours in a week.
"The records of Agriprocessors, Inc., also confirm, as alleged by each of the employee-victims, that each of these employee-victims worked more hours of overtime each week than that for which they were compensated," the Complaint said.
