Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, March 9, 1990 TAG: 9003091755
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: B5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: The Washington Post
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Medium
And that, according to the Labor Department, is just what the Miami-based company did. On Thursday, the department said it was filing suit against the company for what it said were repeated violations of child-labor laws at almost every one of the nearly 800 restaurants owned by the company.
Burger King, second in size only to McDonald's, is one of the nation's largest employers of young people. The department did not charge any of the company's 4,600 franchise restaurants but indicated charges could be filed later.
Specifically, Burger King is accused of working children under age 16 longer and later than the law allows. Under federal law, 14- and 15-year-olds are allowed to work only three hours a day when school is in session and a maximum of 18 hours during a five-day school week. And they are allowed to work only between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m.
The focus of the Labor Department investigation and the majority of the alleged violations were at company-owned facilities in Florida, Illinois, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New York and North Carolina.
The suit appears to be one of the largest child-labor-law complaints filed by the department in recent years and marks the start of a promised crackdown on labor-law violators.
The department has asked the court to permanently enjoin the company from all future child-labor-law violations throughout the country and to pick up the legal costs of the suit. The department will seek financial penalties against Burger King in a separate administrative proceeding.
"This action serves as notice to employers that we will not hesitate to use available legal processes, in addition to investigative efforts, to protect America's children," said Labor Secretary Elizabeth Dole.
Nigel Travis, Burger King's senior vice president for human resources, said the company had not seen the government's complaint.
"Today's announcement from Secretary Dole comes as a complete surprise," Travis said. "This is the first time we have received any indication of alleged violations."
The Labor Department cited violations dating back to September 1986. Grand Metropolitan PLC, a British conglomerate, bought Burger King in January 1989.
Asked if the company planned to change its advertising slogan in light of Thursday's developments, a Burger King spokeswoman said, "Absolutely not. We're talking about breaking the rules for our customers, not the law."
by CNB