Downers-Grove based Hearthside Food Solutions will pay $4.5 million to settle an Illinois child labor probe after a Texas bankruptcy judge approved a settlement between the company and the Illinois Department of Labor and attorney general Friday.
The Illinois agencies opened their child labor probe into Hearthside, which was named in a major New York Times investigation into migrant child labor, in 2023. A separate national investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor was still open as of last month.
Because Hearthside filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in Texas in November — in a move it said was not primarily driven by the child labor allegations — the settlement agreement had to be approved by a bankruptcy judge before it could take effect.
In a statement when the parties first reached a settlement agreement late last year, Annie Thompson, spokesperson for the attorney general, said that “children belong in classrooms, not manufacturing facilities.”
“We are committed to reaching a resolution with Hearthside Food Solutions that protects minors from exploitation and holds the company accountable for any practices that violate Illinois labor laws,” Thompson said.
Hearthside did not admit wrongdoing as part of the settlement and continues to deny allegations of child labor. It has previously said the allegations were “principally connected” with third-party staffing agencies, and has said it has already taken steps to reduce its reliance on temporary labor hired from such staffing agencies.
“Hearthside looks forward to moving the (c)ompany into the future on strong footing, leaving past challenges behind, and positioning the business for sustained growth,” it said in a statement in December.
Up to half of the $4.5 million settlement fund will be set aside for people who say they worked for Hearthside in Illinois while under age 16 and who can provide documentation to support their claim.
The agreement also requires Hearthside to submit to additional state oversight over the length of the agreement, which is two years. The company agreed to submit to audits by the state, for instance, and must open an anonymous hotline for employees to report alleged child labor violations.
The approval of the agreement comes days after a refresh to Illinois’ child labor law, which, among other provisions, increases penalties for violators of the law, took effect Jan. 1. The move also comes as some other states, including neighboring Iowa, have moved to weaken their own child labor laws.