HATTIESBURG, Miss. (WHLT) – Attorneys announced Mar-Jac Poultry settled with the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) after the death of a 16-year-old boy at the facility.
According to the attorney for the family of Duvan Perez, Mar-Jac agreed to pay $164,814 in fines and implement numerous safety measures at the poultry plant.
“Mar-Jac was aware of these safety problems for years and had been warned and fined by OSHA, yet did nothing. Hopefully, Mar-Jac will follow through this time so that no other worker is killed in such a senseless manner,” said Attorney Jim Reeves.
The facility received multiple safety citations from federal agencies for unsafe work practices.
Perez died at the Hattiesburg poultry plant on July 14, 2023. Mar-Jac previously denied any wrongdoing in the death of Perez. They admitted Perez was killed at the facility, but they denied any liability in connection to his death.
The family of Perez filed a lawsuit against Mar-Jac Poultry MS, LLC, and Onin Staffing earlier this year. The lawsuit alleges that Perez was killed due to Mar-Jac ignoring safety regulations and not turning off machinery during sanitation. The suit also claims Onin Staffing was negligent in illegally assigning the 16-year-old to work at the plant.
The company was previously cited by OSHA in January 2024. In addition to OSHA’s investigation, the department’s Wage and Hour Division has an open child labor investigation.