This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
The U.S. Department of Labor filed a lawsuit Tuesday against a concrete company that has supported the polygamous Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, accusing it of underpaying workers and violating child-labor laws.
The lawsuit was filed in federal court in Salt Lake City against Phaze Concrete, which also does business as Jack Daniel's Construction, another company operated by FLDS faithful that Phaze merged with in 2013. The Labor Department is asking for wages due to be paid to employees and a judge to issue an injunction prohibiting the company from the child-labor practices.
Phaze was the subject of a Salt Lake Tribune investigation in 2015. The Labor Department filing Tuesday echoes much of what the newspaper found: Teens and other former employees told of being paid below minimum wage or having their pay siphoned to go to FLDS leaders.
The Labor Department lawsuit describes practices going back to at least 2007. One boy, identified only as "N.S.," who when he was 14 and 15 years old helped construct a Scheels in Kansas, a Hobby Lobby in Nebraska and a Wal-Mart in Missouri. He drove fork lifts and excavating equipment and ran a concrete saw, the filing says.
N.S. worked an average of 12 to 13 hours a day, the Labor Department claims. While food and housing was provided, he was paid a biweekly stipend of $200, though that often was not paid, the government claims.
A second boy, identified as "R.J.," described similar jobs and conditions, though he began with Phaze at age 12, the filing says. He told the Labor Department that one of Phaze's owners told him to lie and say he was 18 if anyone at the job site ever asked his age. If a safety inspector ever arrived, R.J. was to "disappear," according to the filing.
Phaze and Jack Daniel's mostly pour concrete foundations for commercial and large residential construction projects. From 2003 to 2014, Phaze was a concrete subcontractor on 70 Wal-Mart stores, according to an application submitted by Phaze President Paul Beagley. The Tribune investigation found that Phaze and Jack Daniel's also poured concrete for such retailers as Winco, Fred Meyer, Aaron's and Lowe's.
The construction companies also have been subcontractors on public projects, including work on Air Force bases and pouring concrete for new high schools and government-financed senior housing complexes.
Concrete work on a single big-box store can pay up to $3.5 million. Phaze and Jack Daniel's were said to be major cash contributors to the FLDS. Phaze was donating $100,000 a month to the Yearning For Zion ranch, according to a ledger of donations seized by Texas authorities in the 2008 raid of the ranch.
In 2013, Jack Daniel's wrote a $401,888 check to Schleicher County, Texas, to pay taxes on the ranch, according to the county appraisal district.
While Phaze and Jack Daniel's have received a handful of small fines for safety violations, Tuesday's lawsuit is the first government accusation about the companies' labor practices.
Blake Hamilton, a lawyer for Phaze, did not return messages seeking comment Tuesday. He told The Tribune last year that the company was audited yearly to ensure that its books are accurate and comply with tax law; a human resources expert found that the firms pay their employees "more than most Utah companies pay their employees doing this type of work."
As for teen workers, Hamilton said the companies do not employ young workers in violation of the law or in a way that "places these individuals at risk."
The lawsuit is the latest threat to FLDS businesses and financing.
The Labor Department has ordered another FLDS-run company, Paragon Contractors, to pay $1.9 million in connection with a 2012 pecan harvest that used workers as young as 6 years old. A judge in June found that the harvest put Paragon in contempt of a previous order not to misuse underage workers.
The Labor Department last year fined FLDS-controlled Reliant Electric $376,300 for using child workers in Oklahoma.
In a criminal case, 11 FLDS followers have been charged with two counts each of conspiracy in what prosecutors have described as a scheme to defraud the federal food-stamp program. The defendants are awaiting trial.
Twitter: @natecarlisle