ST. PAUL, Min. – A Virginia-based meatpacking company will pay the state of Minnesota a $2 million fine for illegally employing children between the ages of 14 and 17.
The Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry says Smithfield Packaged Meats Corp., which operates a plant in St. James, has signed a consent order requiring the company to pay “the largest fine” the state has ever “recovered in an enforcement action against child labour’. action.”
The department says an audit found the company hired at least 11 minors between April 2021 and April 2023, with most shifts working after 9 p.m.
According to the department, all child laborers were “performing hazardous work” at the St. James plant, including:
- “Working near chemicals or other hazardous substances”
- “Operating electrically powered machines, including meat grinders, cutting machines and electrically powered conveyor belts”
- “Operating non-automatic lifts, lifts or hoisting machines, including motorized pallet trucks and lifting pallet trucks”
In a statement, Smithfield said it disputed the department’s claims and “denies that we knowingly hired anyone under the age of 18 to work at our St. James facility.”
“We have not admitted liability as part of this settlement, but in the interest of avoiding protracted litigation, we have agreed to settle this case,” the company said.
Smithfield said the minors used “false identification” and fake names to gain employment at the company, and that the company has since improved and emphasized safeguards against the use of labor by minors.
“Smithfield is committed to maintaining a safe workplace and complying with all applicable labor laws and regulations,” the company said. “We wholeheartedly agree that persons under the age of 18 should not work in meatpacking or processing facilities.”
The Minnesota Child Labor Standards Act prohibits the employment of minors in hazardous occupations. It also prohibits minors under the age of 16 from working after 9 p.m. and working more than eight hours per day or more than 40 hours per week.
Commissioner Nicole Blissenbach calls Smithfield’s actions “unacceptable.”
“DLI’s resolution with Smithfield sends a strong message to employers, including in the meatpacking industry, that child labor violations will not be tolerated in Minnesota,” Blissenbach said.
Last year, the department says it reached a similar consent order with Madelia’s Tony Downs Food Companywho also hired minors to do dangerous work.
In 2022, a federal judge ordered a Wisconsin-based slaughterhouse cleaning company to stop hiring minors, including The Turkey Valley Farms plant in Marshall, Minnesota.
St. James is located about 120 miles southwest of the Twin Cities.
