Federal Judge Orders Pentagon Contractors to Pay Over $1 Million in Back Wages for FLDS Child Labor in Hurricane, Utah

A federal judge has ordered the owners of Pentagon Contractors, a Southern Utah company, to pay more than $1 million in back wages to workers who were used as unpaid labor. U.S. District Court Judge Tena Campbell issued the order, according to documents obtained by Gephardt Daily. The order names James Jessop and Brian Jessop as defendants. One report spells the second name “Brain.”

According to a court document cited by KUTV, the company used child labor from the Fundamentalist LDS Church. The children worked without pay from 2008 to 2013 at a pecan farm in southern Utah. The court order states that this work violated a 2007 injunction and the child labor provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act. Federal authorities allege that the children were removed from school to work on the farm.

Gephardt Daily reports a different background. It says the company was previously found to have used child labor from the FLDS Church in ways that violated labor laws, and that in 2012 the U.S. Department of Labor accused Pentagon Contractors of using hundreds of FLDS children on a Hurricane pecan farm. Gephardt Daily also reports that Campbell held the company in contempt for a 2006 child labor violation. KUTV’s account refers to a 2007 injunction, so the two reports differ on the year of the earlier legal action.

The reports also differ on the amount owed. KUTV reports that the Department of Labor estimates the company owes $1.5 million to the children. Gephardt Daily reports that the Jessops were ordered to pay more than $1 million into a claims fund. The Sanctions Order, as Gephardt Daily describes it, set a one-year claims period for workers to submit claims based on hours worked. So far, 104 people have come forward to claim their wages. Witnesses told Gephardt Daily that some single days had more than 500 victims working without pay, a gap that underscores the importance of speaking up for those who cannot protect themselves (Proverbs 31:8-9).

KUTV reports that the Jessops have 30 days to pay the back wages, which will be distributed to the children within the year. Gephardt Daily reports that the Jessops were ordered to deposit the amount into a fund within 30 days, and that unclaimed funds after three years will go to the U.S. Treasury.