Company used children to operate `dangerous' machinery, officials say

A Tennessee manufacturer has been fined nearly $300,000 for employing children to operate “dangerous machinery” and requiring them to work more hours than the law allows, federal regulators said.

Tuff Torq Corp., which manufactures outdoorpower-equipment components for brands that include John Deere, Toro and Yamaha, must pay a civil penalty of $296,951 and follow federal child labor laws in the future, the Labor Department said in a statement Monday.

The company must also set aside $1.5 million in profits related to the employment of the 10 children who were found to be working at its factory in Morristown, Tennessee. That money, the Labor Department said, “will be used for the benefit of the children employed illegally.” A department spokesperson said the children were as young as 14.

The judgment was entered in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee after the Labor Department's wage and hour division found that Tuff Torq had employed several children to perform dangerous jobs.

Officials began their investigation months ago and obtained “clear evidence” of labor violations in January, when they observed a child operating a power-driven hoisting apparatus, which is prohibited for workers under the age of 18.

“Even one child working in a dangerous environment is too many,” Jessica Looman, the administrator of the wage and hour division, said in the statement. “Over the past year,

“Over the past year, we have seen an alarming increase in child labor violations, and these violations put children in harm's way.” — Jessica Looman, U.S. Department of Labor

we have seen an alarming increase in child labor violations, and these violations put children in harm's way.

“With this agreement,” she added, we are ensuring Tuff Torq takes immediate and significant steps to stop the illegal employment of children.”

Tuff Torq said in a statement that it “did not directly employ the individuals,” referring to the underage workers, who it said had been hired by a “temporary workforce staffing agency,” which it did not identify.

The enforcement action comes as child labor violations have increased across the country.

In fiscal year 2023, the Labor Department said, the agency investigated 955 cases of child labor violations, involving 5,792 children nationwide, including 502 children employed in violation of hazardous occupation standards.

In February, the Labor Department said that a Tennessee company had employed at least 24 children between the ages of 13 and 17 to work overnight shifts cleaning dangerous equipment at slaughterhouses in Virginia and Iowa.