The following statement was just released by Rubashkin/Agriprocessors: 

AgriProcessor’s published “job orders” — notices seeking applicants for open positions — always specify that applicants must be at least 18 years old. It has been and always will be our policy never to hire underage workers.  Applicants sometimes falsify their ages in order to gain employment. In 2007 Agri fired four women in the sausage department who had falsified their birthdates. Agri had discovered that they were minors by an independent investigation conducted by its HR department, and not by any official notification.

The Iowa Labor Commissioner initiated an investigation into child-labor allegations in January 2008, with a letter to Agri. Agri cooperated in the investigation and responded promptly, explaining its hiring procedure and stating that, to its knowledge, no minors were then employed at its plant. The Labor Commissioner’s Office replied with a request for more detailed information from Agri, and the requested data was supplied ten days later.

On April 3, 2008, the Labor Commissioner conducted a surprise, on-site inspection of the plant. The team consisted of five inspectors, of whom one was described by the government office as a professional in identifying minors. The team walked throughout the facility, viewing the workforce and even questioning certain employees, and identified no minors working at the plant. Nonetheless, two weeks later, a government attorney told Agri that the government believed that some Agri employees were underage. Agri asked explicitly that these workers be identified, so that their employment could be terminated. The request was rejected. The Commissioner’s attorney stated that, before releasing the names, she wanted to review Agri’s records to ensure the individuals in question previously worked or are currently working at Agri. The company offered to allow the Commissioner to review the company’s records on April 30. The Commissioner declined, and stated that the review would occur on May 21. On May 12, before that review occurred and before the Commissioner identified the supposed underage workers of which he was aware, ICE conducted its raid at Postville and arrested persons who claim to be underage and who admit to having obtained employment with false documents.

Notwithstanding the leisurely pace of its investigation, the inability of even the government’s expert to identify any employees in the plant as minors, and the refusal to disclose the identities of any employees who the Labor Commissioner believed to be employed in violation of child-labor laws, the Commissioner has now issued an inflammatory press release alleging that there were “57 cases” and “egregious violations.” Agri categorically denies the suggestion that it knowingly hired or retained minors as employees and it protests the issuance of a press release that has patently been motivated by a desire to ride the crest of the wave of current public opinion adverse to Agri.