US Department of Labor takes action against Tosh Farms for alleged worker mistreatment

HENRY COUNTY, Tenn. — The U.S. Department of Labor has filed a complaint against family-owned business, Tosh Farms located in Henry, Tennessee.

The Department of Labor protects workers under the Fair Labor Standards Act, also known as the FLSA. According to the Department of Labor, two workers from Tosh Farms allegedly experienced mistreatment after questioning their wages.

After asking for clarification regarding their pay, allegedly, both workers were tasked with providing animal care to the pigs. One worker says they were assigned janitorial work and picking up pig waste. All of these tasks are not their normal job duties.

The FLSA protects workers from being fired after inquiring their pay, another worker also asked about their pay.

After this conversation, this worker said they found a severed pig head in their workspace prior to being threatened with termination.

Tosh Pork has allegedly asked these workers to sign a document preventing them from speaking with other employees regarding their pay.

Tosh Pork has also allegedly been hiring workers from foreign countries to work for them.

Aside from that, they may also owe five workers almost 40,000 dollars in back wages and face over 35,000 dollars in civil penalties.

We emailed Tosh Farms and asked them for more information regarding these allegations. Seth Krantz with Tosh Pork shared a statement for Tosh Farm.

“It is important to Tosh Pork that our employees are treated with dignity and respect and that our animals receive proper care. Tosh Pork seeks to follow all federal, state, and local regulations including the Fair Labor Standards Act. Tosh Pork denies it engaged in the retaliatory conduct alleged by the DOL per its March 5, 2024 news release and intends to vigorously defend itself in court.”

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