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Southern Utah Company Under Investigation for Child Labor Violations

The U.S. Department of Labor has reached an agreement with a southern Utah pecan grower following media reports of possible child labor violations.

Southern Utah Pecan Ranch, LLC is incorporated in Nevada and maintains a pecan grove near Hurricane, Utah.  The Department of Labor began investigating a contractor hired by the growers, paragon contractor corporation of Hildale, Utah after several media reports alleged the use of underage laborers.

The grower has agreed to take steps to prevent any future violations.

The agreement calls for southern Utah pecan ranch to pay any civil penalties, back wages and/or liquidated damages assessed by the department as a result of the ongoing investigation of paragon.

The agreement also requires the grower to include language in future contracts that requires its contractors to comply with federal and state labor laws.
 

Chris Holmes holds a Masters of Professional Communication degree from Southern Utah University. While at SUU his work received numerous awards including the 2009 King Foundation Best of Festival Award in the National Broadcast Education Association Festival of Media Arts. Chris is co-host of the daily public affairs program, Big Picture Morning Show on radio station KSUB (Cedar City, Utah). He also is a sports and news contributor at Cherry Creek Media. He lives in Cedar City, with wife, Marie and five children.