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Not Guilty Verdict in Rubashkin Child-Labor CaseBy Jeff Reinitz Waterloo-Cedar Falls CourierRelated Content
WATERLOO - Former Agriprocessors executive Sholom Rubashkin has been acquitted of allowing minors to work at the Postville slaughterhouse.
The jury indicated they had reached a verdict shortly before 1 p.m. Monday. Jurors acquitted him of all 67 counts of child labor violations. Rubashkin is awaiting sentencing on federal bank fraud charges in connection with loans Agriprocessors received. Federal immigration charges stemming from the May 2008 raid at the plant were dropped earlier. State labor officials began investigating information that minors worked at the plant in the months before the May 2008 immigration raid. Prosecutors said Rubashkin, who was described at the CEO and co-VP of the company, knew underage workers held jobs at the facility and did nothing to remove them or change hiring practices. Twenty-six former Agriprocessors employees from Guatemala and Mexico testified they had worked at the plant as teenagers. The state said they worked with dangerous chemicals and some tended power-driven equipment like conveyor belts. The defense argued Rubashkin didn't want minors working at Agriprocessors and noted that underage employees had been fired when they were discovered in 2007. They allege labor investigators didn't give them the names of suspected youths so they could be fired. Statement of the Attorney General’s Office – June 7, 2010: "The jury reached a verdict early Monday afternoon to acquit former Agriprocessors executive Sholom Rubashkin. We alleged that Sholom Rubashkin was on notice repeatedly and that he knew -- from his own management staff, from child labor investigators, and from his own eyes -- that there were scores of children working on the floor of the slaughterhouse, and we alleged Rubashkin ignored his obligation to do something about it. But the jury found reasonable doubt. We respect the process, and the jury has the final say. We commend the jury for their five weeks of attention during the trial, and for their 12 hours of deliberation. We will continue every effort to enforce the child labor laws of the State of Iowa." More Good Stuff |
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