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FLDS Church Members Fined $2 Million for Alleged Child Labor Violations (Fallout from Hobby Lobby)
FLDS Church Members Fined $2 Million for Alleged Child Labor ViolationsMay 8, 2015, 9:47 PM ET
By CHRIS KILMER
@kilmer
via 20/20
The brother of the controversial Fundamentalist Church of Latter-Day Saints leader Warren Jeffs is among several high-profile FLDS church members facing nearly $2 million in fines for alleged violations of federal child labor laws, ABC News has learned. ... The U.S. Department of Labor confirmed fines totaling $1,964,450 were filed against FLDS church members Lyle Jeffs, Dale Barlow, Brian Jessop, the FLDS and Paragon Contractors Corporation. The department launched an investigation in December 2012, after private investigator Sam Brower uncovered what he called FLDS-organized child labor at orchards near the town of Hurricane, Utah.
On a recent visit to the area, ABC News’ “20/20” found children at work, using forklifts and shoveling dirt to build fences. Former FLDS member Joe Broadbent told “20/20” that when he was in the church years ago “the schools would stop, and we would all load up and go pick pecans.”
The FLDS is fighting the Department of Labor’s investigation in court. Officials said the church, along with Paragon Contractors, Brian Jessop, and Dale Barlow, are also contesting the latest round of fines.
“On April 20, 2015, WHD {the Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division} assessed civil money penalties jointly and severally against Paragon Contractors Corporation, Brian Jessop, Dale Barlow, Lyle Jeffs, and the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints which is incorporated as the Corporation of the Presiding Bishop of the FLDS Church and the Corporation of the President of the FLDS Church, in the amount of $1,964,450 for violations of the child labor prohibitions of the Fair Labor Standards Act related to the pecan harvest. DOL continues to consider other appropriate enforcement actions related to this investigation. To date, Paragon Contractors, Brian Jessop, and Dale Barlow have contested the penalty assessment, ” a Department of Labor official said in a statement to ABC News.
By CHRIS KILMER
@kilmer
via 20/20
The brother of the controversial Fundamentalist Church of Latter-Day Saints leader Warren Jeffs is among several high-profile FLDS church members facing nearly $2 million in fines for alleged violations of federal child labor laws, ABC News has learned. ... The U.S. Department of Labor confirmed fines totaling $1,964,450 were filed against FLDS church members Lyle Jeffs, Dale Barlow, Brian Jessop, the FLDS and Paragon Contractors Corporation. The department launched an investigation in December 2012, after private investigator Sam Brower uncovered what he called FLDS-organized child labor at orchards near the town of Hurricane, Utah.
On a recent visit to the area, ABC News’ “20/20” found children at work, using forklifts and shoveling dirt to build fences. Former FLDS member Joe Broadbent told “20/20” that when he was in the church years ago “the schools would stop, and we would all load up and go pick pecans.”
The FLDS is fighting the Department of Labor’s investigation in court. Officials said the church, along with Paragon Contractors, Brian Jessop, and Dale Barlow, are also contesting the latest round of fines.
“On April 20, 2015, WHD {the Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division} assessed civil money penalties jointly and severally against Paragon Contractors Corporation, Brian Jessop, Dale Barlow, Lyle Jeffs, and the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints which is incorporated as the Corporation of the Presiding Bishop of the FLDS Church and the Corporation of the President of the FLDS Church, in the amount of $1,964,450 for violations of the child labor prohibitions of the Fair Labor Standards Act related to the pecan harvest. DOL continues to consider other appropriate enforcement actions related to this investigation. To date, Paragon Contractors, Brian Jessop, and Dale Barlow have contested the penalty assessment, ” a Department of Labor official said in a statement to ABC News.
Earlier, however:
Judge: FLDS leader's brothers can avoid child labor queries
By Lindsay Whitehurst
For the Deseret News
Published: Wednesday, Jan. 21 2015 4:38 p.m. MST
SALT LAKE CITY — Two brothers of polygamous sect leader Warren Jeffs can cite their religion in refusing to answer questions about suspected child labor violations on a Utah pecan farm, a federal judge ruled Wednesday.
Nephi and Lyle Jeffs, considered high-ranking members of the secretive Fundamentalist LDS Church, testified in a Salt Lake courtroom that their church doctrine bars them from talking about the sect's dealings. ... "I feel like I would be breaking confidences if I discuss the workings of the church," Nephi Jeffs said in court.
Federal authorities say group leaders left phone messages for members telling as many as 1,400 children to take days off school and help with a pecan harvest along the Utah-Arizona border in 2012. Labor lawyers want the brothers to answer questions about working conditions on the farm, as well as the structure and leadership of the FLDS Church.
....
After their testimony, U.S. District Judge David Sam decided their religious beliefs were sincere, a decision that is expected to put many questions by investigators out of bounds. Sam ruled in September that another Jeffs follower didn't have to testify about the group's inner workings. He cited a U.S. Supreme Court decision that the arts-and-crafts chain Hobby Lobby could be exempt on religious grounds from a federal requirement to cover employees' birth control.
For the Deseret News
Published: Wednesday, Jan. 21 2015 4:38 p.m. MST
SALT LAKE CITY — Two brothers of polygamous sect leader Warren Jeffs can cite their religion in refusing to answer questions about suspected child labor violations on a Utah pecan farm, a federal judge ruled Wednesday.
Nephi and Lyle Jeffs, considered high-ranking members of the secretive Fundamentalist LDS Church, testified in a Salt Lake courtroom that their church doctrine bars them from talking about the sect's dealings. ... "I feel like I would be breaking confidences if I discuss the workings of the church," Nephi Jeffs said in court.
Federal authorities say group leaders left phone messages for members telling as many as 1,400 children to take days off school and help with a pecan harvest along the Utah-Arizona border in 2012. Labor lawyers want the brothers to answer questions about working conditions on the farm, as well as the structure and leadership of the FLDS Church.
....
After their testimony, U.S. District Judge David Sam decided their religious beliefs were sincere, a decision that is expected to put many questions by investigators out of bounds. Sam ruled in September that another Jeffs follower didn't have to testify about the group's inner workings. He cited a U.S. Supreme Court decision that the arts-and-crafts chain Hobby Lobby could be exempt on religious grounds from a federal requirement to cover employees' birth control.
Hobby Lobby: the gift that keeps on giving.
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