LOS ANGELES – The US Department of Labor’s (DOL) Wage and Hour Division announced on May 2 that a network of California poultry processors and distributors entered into a consent judgment with a federal court in Los Angeles to pay $4.8 million in back wages and damages to 476 workers and $221,919 in penalties.

A DOL investigation found that the poultry group illegally employed people as young as 14 years old who would use sharp knives to debone poultry, a violation of federal child labor regulations. 

The defendants in the case who ran the poultry processing operations included L & Y Food Inc., Moon Poultry Inc., and JCR Culinary Group Inc., as well as managers Fu Qian Chen Lu, Bruce Shu Hua Lok, and Ryan Zhong Lu.

Along with the child labor violations, DOL investigators found the employers and associates denied poultry and red meat cutters and packers overtime wages for hours over 40 in a workweek and falsified payroll records to obstruct the probe.

“Federal labor laws protect children from being employed in dangerous jobs and protect workers’ right to be paid all of their legally earned wages,” said Jessica Looman, administrator for Wage and Hour Division of DOL. “The employers in this case illegally employed children, some as young as 14 years old, to work with extremely sharp-edged knives to quickly debone poultry and denied hundreds of workers nearly $2 million in overtime wages. These violations are unacceptable, and the Wage and Hour Division will continue to use all its tools to stop the exploitation of vulnerable workers.”

The consent order also noted that the companies must turn over $1 million in profits that came from child labor. 

Additionally, the court permanently forbade Lu, Lok and their associates from future Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) violations. 

As part of the order, the poultry business must train all managers and supervisors on the FLSA and hire an independent third-party to monitor compliance.

In April, the DOL’s Office of the Solicitor in Los Angeles obtained a temporary restraining order and injunction against the poultry business. 

The initial investigation into the matter began in January 2024.