The Latest: Court hears labour case tied to polygamous group | iNFOnews | Thompson-Okanagan's News Source
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The Latest: Court hears labour case tied to polygamous group

DENVER - The Latest on a child-labour case linked to a polygamous group (all times local):

12:10 p.m.

Lawyers for a Utah contractor with ties to a polygamous group were in court challenging a judge's finding that the company put nearly 200 children to work picking pecans for long hours in the cold, without pay.

Rick Sutherland, a lawyer for Paragon Contractors, argued in front of three federal judges at the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver on Monday that the children were volunteering with their families to pick up fallen nuts for the needy.

He says that the children looked forward to the break from home-schooling.

Paragon is challenging a ruling from U.S. District Judge Tena Campbell, who found the company forced kids to work in hazardous conditions during a 2012 pecan harvest in southern Utah.

Court documents state the children were also sometimes deprived of water breaks and bathroom breaks.

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10:38 a.m.

A Utah contractor with ties to a polygamous group is appealing a judge's finding that they put nearly 200 children to work picking pecans for long hours in the cold without pay.

Lawyers for Paragon Contractors are set to appear before the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver on Monday.

They argue the kids were volunteering with their families to pick up fallen nuts for the needy and children looked forward to the break from home-schooling.

U.S. District Judge Tena Campbell, however, sided with U.S. Department of Labor attorneys who said they forced kids as young as 6 to work in the cold during a 2012 pecan harvest.

Prosecutors also say the company changed its name and put children to work again in 2015 and 2016.

News from © The Associated Press, 2017
The Associated Press

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