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An Agriprocessors spokesman, confident that the state will not be able to prove its allegations of child labor law violations, said that the company is looking forward to its day in court.
“In order to convict, the state is going to have to prove that the defendants willfully violated the child labor laws,” said Chaim Abrahams. “That means that the state, as to every one of the alleged violations, is going to have to prove that each defendant know that the employee was underage on the day in question, and knew that it was against the law for the person to be employed in the manner alleged. The state will not be able to carry this burden of proof. Agriprocessors acted in good faith on the child labor issue.”
Abrahams, who is a member of management at Agriprocessors in Postville, was not among the five individuals named in the child labor law violations case filed this morning in Allamakee County. Named along with the company as a whole were Abraham Aaron Rubashkin, Sholom M. Rubashkin, Elisabeth Billmeyer, Laura Althouse and Karina Freund. They all face more than 9,000 counts of violating the state’s child labor laws.
“Agriprocessors vehemently denies these allegations and looks forward to trial so that it may put to rest the insidious notion that it knowingly employed underage workers,” Abrahams said.
According to Abrahams, the minors caught working at the plant during the May 12 immigration raid — as well as any other who claim to have been employed by Agriprocessors — lied about their age to gain employment.
“At the time of hiring, all of the minors, like all job applicants, presented and signed documents stating that they were over 18,” he said. “They know that, if they told the truth about their age, they would not be hired. In addition, the company’s human resources employees, if they suspected that an applicant was underage, routinely and regularly rejected the application until the applicant could produce a birth certificate showing their true age.”
Abrahams said that when the company learned a minor might be on the payroll, it investigated and, if the allegations were found to be true, terminated the employee immediately.
The charges faced by Agriprocessors are simple misdemeanors, each punishable by up to 30 days in jail and/or a fine of $65 to $625.
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