A Tennessee manufacturer has been fined nearly $300,000 for employing children as young as 14 to operate “dangerous machinery” and requiring them to work more hours than the law allows, federal regulators said.
Tuff Torq Corp., which manufactures outdoor-power-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 on 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, Tenn. That money, the Labor Department said, “will be used for the benefit of the children employed illegally.” A department spokesman 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.
Persons:
John Deere, “, Torq
Organizations:
Torq Corp, Toro, Yamaha, Labor Department, Eastern, Eastern District of, Labor
Locations:
Tennessee, Morristown, Tenn, ”, U.S, Eastern District, Eastern District of Tennessee