Yes, workers can sue a poultry plant for unpaid wages and for retaliation tied to a child-labor violation. They cannot file a private lawsuit to collect the child-labor fine itself.
Those fines are civil penalties pursued by the U.S. Department of Labor. Hazardous Occupation Order HO 10 is the federal rule that bars anyone under 18 from meat and poultry packing or processing work.
Table of Contents
- What jobs are illegal for minors in poultry plants?
- What can workers sue for themselves?
- What money goes only through the government?
- What can an affected worker do now?
What jobs are illegal for minors in poultry plants?
Federal youth-employment rules prohibit processing and packing work for anyone under 18. According to the U.S. Department of Labor youth-employment guidance, the ban includes using power-driven meat-slicing machines, with only narrow apprentice exemptions current federal rules for workers under 18.
At Perdue's Accomac plant, investigators found jointly employed children deboning chicken with electric knives and a heat-sealing press and working after 7 p.m. The Labor Department's January 15, 2025 bulletin also cited a hot-goods violation. Hot goods means goods shipped after they were produced with illegal child labor.
What can workers sue for themselves?
The federal wage law gives an employee a direct court claim for unpaid minimum wages or overtime. According to the statute text published by the U.S. Government Publishing Office, the worker can seek back pay plus an equal amount as liquidated damages, plus attorney's fees and costs federal private wage-suit provision.
Liquidated damages means an extra sum equal to the back pay. The same law covers retaliation for asserting wage rights. The Labor Department's wage advisor states that firing or discriminating for filing a complaint violates federal law. Separately, injured minors or families may pursue state injury or wrongful-death claims, as after the July 14, 2023 machine death of a 16-year-old at Mar-Jac in Hattiesburg.
What money goes only through the government?
Child-labor civil penalties are not private damages. For example, MEAT+POULTRY reporting on Labor Department findings says Mar-Jac Poultry's Jasper, Alabama plant accepted a federal consent judgment for $385,000 in penalties and a bar on future violations for employing minors as young as 13 in hazardous jobs report on the Mar-Jac consent judgment. A consent judgment is a court order the employer accepts to resolve the case.
Larger plant settlements can include restitution paid through the government. According to the Labor Department bulletin, Perdue agreed to pay $4 million in restitution to affected children and advocacy groups plus a $150,000 penalty, while staffing agency SMX paid $125,000 Labor Department bulletin on the Perdue settlement. That structure matters for readers expecting a claim form.
What can an affected worker do now?
An affected worker can file a confidential complaint with the Wage and Hour Division. That complaint can trigger an investigation and possible Labor Department recovery of back wages. It does not require the worker to sue first.
- Write down plant name, dates, shifts, tasks, machines used, and pay received
- Save pay stubs, schedules, photos, messages, and medical records when safe to do so
- File a confidential Wage and Hour Division complaint or ask about unpaid-wage, retaliation, or state injury options