Kentucky
McDonald’s franchises fined for child labor violations
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Two 10-year-olds are among the 300 children who worked at a McDonald’s restaurants with no or little pay, a Labor Department investigation of franchisees in Louisville, Kentucky, found.
Agency investigators found more than 300 minors, including the 10-year-olds, were working illegally, the Labor Department said Tuesday. The franchisees were fined $212,000 in total.
Louisville’s Bauer Food LLC, which operates 10 McDonald’s locations, employed 24 minors under the age of 16 to work more hours than legally permitted, the agency said. Among those were two 10-year-old children. The agency said the children sometimes worked as late as 2 a.m., but were not paid.
“Below the minimum age for employment, they prepared and distributed food orders, cleaned the store, worked at the drive-thru window and operated a register,” the Labor Department said, adding that one child also was allowed to operate a deep fryer, which is prohibited task for workers under 16.
Franchise owner-operator Sean Bauer said the two 10-year-olds cited in the Labor Department’s statement were visiting their parent, a night manager, and weren’t employees.
“Any ‘work’ was done at the direction of — and in the presence of — the parent without authorization by franchisee organization management or leadership,” Bauer said Wednesday in a prepared statement, adding that they’ve since reiterated the child visitation policy to employees.
Federal child labor regulations put strict limits on the types of jobs children can perform and the hours they can work.
The Kentucky investigations are part of an ongoing effort by the Labor Department’s Wage and Hour Division to stop child labor abuses in the Southeast.
“Too often, employers fail to follow the child labor laws that protect young workers,” said division Director Karen Garnett-Civils. “Under no circumstances should there ever be a 10-year-old child working in a fast-food kitchen around hot grills, ovens and deep fryers.”
In addition, Walton-based Archways Richwood LLC and Louisville-based Bell Restaurant Group I LLC allowed minors ages 14 and 15 to work beyond allowable hours, the department said.
California
Hotline to provide legal help related to abortion
LOS ANGELES (AP) — California has joined with law firms and advocacy groups to create a hotline that provides access to information and pro bono services for people who need legal help related to abortion, as the state seeks to become a safe haven for reproductive rights since Roe v. Wade was overturned.
State Attorney General Rob Bonta and officials with the Southern California Legal Alliance for Reproductive Justice made the announcement Tuesday, one year since the U.S. Supreme Court draft decision reversing Roe was leaked.
Calling it a “dark anniversary,” Bonta said that in the ensuing year the national legal landscape surrounding abortion has become “confusing, and frankly, scary.”
He said the new coalition seeks to put patients and care providers at ease by providing a wide range of legal services to people in places where abortion is restricted — including pro bono representation for anyone facing civil or criminal penalties for seeking, providing or assisting in reproductive care.
“They aren’t alone. We’re here. We have support. We have resources. We have guidance, we have counsel for you,” Bonta said at a news conference.
In addition, legal experts will offer guidance about compliance amid shifting restrictions in various states, advice about protecting sensitive health data and support for amicus briefs to advance reproductive rights.
“Unforgiving abortion bans and the devastating health consequences that follow are galvanizing advocates, providers and law firms,” said Lara Stemple, director of the Legal Alliance for Reproductive Justice.
Threats of jail time, fines or protracted legal battles have already caused providers to deny critical care and forced patients to turn to unsafe measures, officials said.
The state and the legal alliance will get support from groups including Planned Parenthood, Access Reproductive Justice, the National Women’s Law Center and the University of California, Los Angeles, Law Center on Reproductive Health, Law, and Policy.
The California coalition will align with the Abortion Defense Network, a national nonprofit that provides similar advice, representation and funding to help pay legal expenses related to abortion care, Stemple said.
“So the network is vast and growing,” she said. “I’m confident that we would be able to connect any abortion provider in any place in the United States with lawyers who would be willing to help.”
Last June, the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, the 1973 decision that had provided a constitutional right to abortion. The ruling has led to abortion bans in roughly half the states.
In anticipation of the decision, California and other states led by Democrats have taken steps to protect abortion access. The high court’s decision also set up the potential for legal fights between the states over whether providers and those who help women obtain abortions can be sued or prosecuted.
New Hampshire
Man faces more charges over explosive devices
CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — A man accused of lighting two suspected pipe bombs and leaving them to explode in a New Hampshire town, injuring one person, is facing related charges in federal court.
Dale Stewart Jr., 54, of Webster, was scheduled to appear in U.S. District Court in Concord on Wednesday on two firearms possession charges regarding a “destructive device” found in his pickup truck, investigators said. An attorney was not listed for him.
Last week, two explosive devices went off along roads in the town of Weare. The first one was near a home and caused a small fire. A passer-by was injured when he went to take a closer look at the second one, police said.
Stewart pleaded not guilty last week to state charges of throwing or placing explosives and possession of an infernal machine, among others. A judge ordered that Stewart remain in jail and receive a mental health evaluation.
The federal charges allege that the device found in Stewart’s truck last week was consistent with the others, according to an affidavit from an investigator for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
