Officials from Mar-Jac Poultry in Hattiesburg say they are fully cooperating with the investigation currently being conducted by the U.S. Department of Labor and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration regarding the recent workplace death of a 16-year-old employee of the plant on James Street.
According to a new release issued early this week by James Dickinson Jr., who serves as human resources supervisor at the plant, the plant immediately reported the accidental death of teenager Duvan Perez. Dickinson said the plant has readily made records available for inspection, and plant workers have been open for interviews with OSHA and the department of labor.
“Both agencies have spent multiple days in the plant,” the release states. “Moreover, we have always maintained an ‘open door’ policy and encouraged all of our employees to bring any matter of concern to the company’s attention, without fear of retaliation.
“Finally, in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Labor, we have taken concrete steps in the form of new protocols and conditions for the staffing companies who assist us in meeting our labor requirements.”
On September 11, officials from the department of labor announced that investigators are seeking to interview Mar-Jac employees as the investigation of Perez’s death continues. Immediately preceding that announcement, OSHA obtained a warrant from the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi to secure access to the Mar-Jac facility and investigate safety hazards related to the incident.
That warrant allows federal officials to question any employer, operator, agent or employee privately and to review records related to the operation and maintenance of the equipment involved in the incident.
“As federal investigators continue to try to understand how a 16-year-old died at the Mar-Jac Poultry plant in Hattiesburg, we are asking current Mar-Jac employees for their assistance,” said Courtney Bohannon, who serves as area director at OSHA’s Jackson office. “Federal law protects the rights of workers to participate in a U.S. Department of Labor investigation and forbids employers from interfering in any way, including by retaliating against an employee who does.
“With help from Mar-Jac’s workers, we can make sure the employer provides a safer environment for everyone who works there.”
Any employees at the Hattiesburg plant who have information regarding the incident are being asked to contact OSHA at (855) 321-6742, or the Jackson office at (601) 965-4606. Plant workers also can submit a complaint online at https://www.osha.gov/workers/file-complaint.
Callers can choose to remain confidential.
Over the course of two days, The Pine Belt news reached out to each of the numbers listed in the news releases, but was unable to get comments from officials, other than what was issued in those releases. Many times, the calls went unanswered, or the numbers were not in service.
Given Mar-Jac’s large number of Hispanic employees, OSHA officials said they also are working with local community groups to establish trust with workers and their families. In addition, the agency is collaborating with advocacy groups such as the Immigrant Alliance for Justice & Equity of Mississippi, to contact immigrant workers who may be fearful of retaliation by their employer if they cooperate with investigators.
“Child labor laws exist to safeguard young workers from tragedies like the one that happened at the Mar-Jac poultry plant,” said Audrey Hall, OSHA’s Wage and Hour Division district director. “To fully protect workers, we need information from employees and the community at large.
“Workers can contact us directly at (866) 487-9243 to file a complaint or share information confidentially, regardless of where they are from and without fear of retaliation. Workers can also contact the Employment Education and Outreach alliance hotline at (877) 522-9832 to speak to someone confidentially in Spanish.”
Perez died at approximately 8 p.m. July 14, when he entangled in machinery while conducting sanitizing operations at the plant. Forrest County Deputy Coroner Lisa Klem confirmed that the teenager did die at the site.
On July 19, Mar-Jac officials issued a release stating that Perez “should not have been hired” because of his status as a minor, and that the employee’s age and identity were misrepresented on his hiring paperwork.
According to the release, plant officials immediately reported the teenager’s death to OSHA, which commenced an investigation into the incident. At that time, MAR-JAC leadership discovered Perez was a minor, which goes against a law that disallows individuals under the age of 18 to perform certain dangerous tasks.
“Due to an unprecedentedly tight labor market, Mar-Jac MS relies on staffing companies to fill positions at its facility,” the statement read. “These companies’ contracts with Mar-Jac MS require them to verify that every applicant is legally qualified to work before they start any job.
“This includes verifying their identity (including age) and immigration status using the I-9 form prescribed by the Department of Homeland Security and through the government’s E-Verify system. Mar-Jac MS relies on these companies to complete these checks and it is a condition of their contracts with Mar-Jac MS that they do so for every job application, without exception. Mar-Jac MS would never knowingly put any employee, and certainly not a minor, in harm’s way but it appears, at this point in the investigation, that this individual’s age and identity were misrepresented on the paperwork.”
Petal resident Kenny Appleby, who worked at Mar-Jac several years ago, said although the plant did not offer ideal working conditions, he was unaware of any illegal hiring practices underway, including those with underage employees.
“To be honest with you, chicken plants are not the place to work – you’ve got live chickens, you’ve got people running knifes, you’ve got moving machinery, and it’s just not safe any way around,” he said. “First of all, a plant like that, with moving machinery, shouldn’t even be hiring a minor – 16 years may be old enough to work, but you just don’t put a 16-year-old kid into that kind of work.
“You give them bus jobs, cook, dishwashing, whatever – those are jobs for kids that age – but not with moving machinery, where they don’t have the mental mentality to work that machinery. I don’t remember anybody underage, but you do have a lot of underage people who look a lot older than they really are. Personally, don’t remember anybody underage, but that doesn’t mean it didn’t happen.”
