Nebraska Judge Orders Wisconsin Company to Comply With Federal Investigation After Allegedly Using Child Labor

Thursday, November 17th, 2022 -- 1:00 PM

(By Joe Schulz, Wisconsin Public Radio) A Nebraska judge has ordered a Wisconsin-based company to comply with a federal investigation into allegations that it used child labor.

According to Joe Schulz with Wisconsin Public Radio, last week, the U.S. Department of Labor sued Packers Sanitation Services Inc., or PSSI, which is headquartered in Grant County and employs 17,000 people who clean 700 food processing plants nationwide.

According to the Nov. 9 civil complaint, PSSI hired 31 minors between 13 and 17 years old to clean meat packing plants in Minnesota and Nebraska. The lawsuit said several of those minors, including a 13-year-old, suffered chemical burns and other injuries.

The Department of Labor said minors were working overnight shifts in hazardous occupations. PSSI also allegedly interfered with an investigation by intimidating minors and deleting or manipulating employment files.

"Federal laws were established decades ago to prevent employers from profiting by putting children in harm’s way," said Michael Lazzeri, wage and hour regional administrator for the Department of Labor based in Chicago.

"Taking advantage of children, exposing them to workplace dangers, and interfering with a federal investigation, demonstrates Packers Sanitation Services Inc.’s flagrant disregard for the law and for the well-being of young workers."

The Nov. 10 court order requires the company to stop using alleged child labor and to comply with investigators. A hearing on the case is scheduled for Nov. 23. In a statement, a spokesperson for PSSI denied that the company employed minors and said it has cooperated with the investigation.

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