A Tennessee factory has to pay almost $2 million because it was found to be employing immigrant teenagers to do “oppressive child labor.”
The Labor Department conducted a review and found ten children working at the Tuff Torq factory in Talbott, Tennessee. This factory makes parts for lawn mowers.
Administration of the Labor Department’s Wage and Hour Division Jessica Looman said in a news release, “Even one child working in a dangerous environment is too many.” “Over the past year, we have seen an alarming increase in child labor violations, and these violations put children in harm’s way.”
For illegal hiring, which included letting kids use dangerous machines, the company got a $296k fine. Investigators “saw a child using a power-driven hoisting apparatus” while they were looking into other violations.
Another thing Tuff Torq will have to do is set aside $1.5 million to help the kids who were working at the plant illegally. The money returned represented a total of 30 days’ worth of earnings for the company.
“With this agreement, we are ensuring Tuff Torq takes immediate and significant steps to stop the illegal employment of children,” Looman noted. “When employers fail to meet their obligations, we will act swiftly to hold them accountable and protect children.”
Representative Seema Nanda, Solicitor of Labor, told NBC News, “This consent decree holds Tuff Torq accountable while also discouraging future violations, focusing on the supply chain, and striving to make the victims whole.”
She stated, “We are now putting into action what we have been saying for a long time.” The department will not tolerate companies that profit from young people working illegally in risky jobs. Tuff Torq has decided to return the money he earned to the kids. Making kids work in dangerous places is not only against the law, but it also costs a lot of money.
The teens who worked for Tuff Torq were only there for a short time and were not directly hired by the company, according to their lawyers.
A third-party staffing company put the teens up at Tuff Torq’s building, but the company says the teens gave the company fake names.
One report from NBC News says that Tuff Torq general counsel Ryan Pott said, “Tuff Torq is committed to ensuring that their products and services are produced under ethical conditions, with a strong emphasis on fair labor practices. “Tuff Torq is further strengthening our relevant training and compliance programs.”
He stated, “We are also actively engaging with our suppliers to reinforce our expectations regarding ethical labor practices and collaborate with them on implementing our updated policies.”
Yanmar, a Japanese company, owns most of Tuff Torq. Many businesses, including John Deere, use the company’s lawn mower parts.
