A janitorial contractor forged IDs for 336 of his 353 workers, and two dozen of them were children as young as 13, cleaning industrial equipment inside a Perdue Farms slaughterhouse. 

In this episode of Don’t Eat Poop!, Matt and Francine dig into a case that took six years to reach sentencing, exposing how easily child labor laws can be circumvented when a subcontractor controls the paperwork. Along the way, the story opens into a much bigger problem: stolen identities, the real people left cleaning up the damage, and what food companies should be asking their staffing vendors.

Hiring the cheapest staffing vendor might be costing you a lot more than you think.

In this episode:

💩 [00:57] Child Labor Laws in the Food Safety Industry

💩 [09:35] A Janitorial Manager’s Guilty Plea for Forged IDs

💩 [13:17] Slaughterhouses are No Place for Kids

💩 [18:50] Forged Licenses, Birth Certificates, and Stolen Social Security Numbers

💩 [23:58] Déjà Vu: The 2023 Packer Sanitation Services Case

💩 [25:54] The Real Cost: Identity Theft Victims and Corporate Security Fallout

Disclaimer: Episode title and content do not constitute legal or health advice.

Resources from this episode

Take a look at the two articles we mentioned in this episode:

• Sentence scheduled for former janitorial services manager who forged IDs for hundreds of workers
• Workers for slaughterhouse cleaning firm that hired children repeatedly used stolen identities to get jobs

Noteworthy quotes from this episode

“A slaughterhouse is not for children. These places are dangerous for adults. I’m not saying they should be shut down. I’m just saying you have to be 100% aware of your surroundings in a slaughterhouse.” – Matt Regusci

“It’s like everything else. You get what you pay for.” – Francine L Shaw

Connect with Francine, Matt, and the “Don’t Eat Poop!” show on LinkedIn! 

Check out Francine’s book Who Watches the Kitchen? on Amazon!