Company Hired Children To Work Hazardous Jobs In Minnesota: Department Of Labor

KEILER, WI — A Wisconsin-based company is under investigation after it employed dozens of children at plants in Minnesota and Nebraska, according to federal authorities.

Packers Sanitation Services Inc., headquartered in Grant County, Wisconsin, is accused of hiring at least 31 children ages 13 to 17 for hazardous jobs, including overnight shifts cleaning dangerous power equipment, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.

The company — also known as PSSI — is a leading provider of food safety sanitation, and employed children to fulfill contracts at Turkey Valley Farms in Marshall and JBS USA plants in Worthington and Grand Island, Nebraska, the department said.

Several of the children, including one 13-year-old, suffered chemical burns and other injuries, according to the department, which also alleged PSSI interfered with an investigation by intimidating juvenile workers and deleting and manipulating employment files.

“Federal laws were established decades ago to prevent employers from profiting by putting children in harm’s way,” Wage and Hour Regional Administrator Michael Lazzeri said in a news release. “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 investigation began Aug. 24, and the department executed warrants at the three plants as well as the company's local offices and its Keiler, Wisconsin, corporate office, authorities said.

The department last week asked a federal judge in Nebraska to issue a nationwide restraining order and injunction against PSSI, which was granted, according to Wisconsin Public Radio.

In a statement to the radio station, the company denied its employment of minors and claimed it was cooperating with the investigation.

“PSSI will continue to cooperate with the (Department of Labor) and will continue to enforce its absolute prohibition against employing anyone under the age of 18,” the statement said, according to WPR.