Eleven Crumbl Cookie locations, including four in Utah, are violating child labor laws, the US Department of Labor announced Tuesday. (Graham Dudley, KSL.com)
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SALT LAKE CITY — Eleven Crumbl Cookie locations, including four in Utah, are in violation of child labor laws, the US Department of Labor announced Tuesday.
Crumbl Cookie’s 11 operators in six states are facing financial penalties for allowing young employees — many as young as 14 or 15 years old — to work longer hours than permitted by law or in dangerous or prohibited conditions.
The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division found violations affecting 46 workers at select Crumbl Cookies franchisees in California, Minnesota, New Hampshire, Tennessee, Utah and Washington, according to a statement from the Department of Labor. Violations range from minor employees working longer and later than permitted by law to minors operating “potentially dangerous” furnaces and machinery.
Whether or not the school is in session, 14- and 15-year-old workers cannot work more than eight hours a day or exceed 40 hours a workweek, the statement says. In addition, employers must not allow 14- and 15-year-olds to work before 7:00 am or after 7:00 pm on any day except June 1 through Labor Day when evening hours are extended to 9:00 pm. 18 are banned from occupations deemed dangerous by federal law, the Labor Department said.
“Employers must ensure that part-time employment does not compromise the safety or education of young workers,” Betty Campbell, regional administrator for the division of wages and hours, said in the statement. “It is the responsibility of every employer who hires underage workers to understand child labor laws and comply with them or potentially face costly consequences.”
The division has completed child labor investigations at the following Utah Crumbl locations:
abundant
- Operator: BE Bountiful LLC
- Minors affected: 9
- Penalties: $7,423
centerville
- Operator: BE Centerville LLC
- Minors affected: 5
- Penalties: $3,624
layton
- Operator: Farr Bakeries LLC
- Minors affected: 3
- Penalties: $5,460
ogden
- Operator: SBP Investments II LLC
- Minors affected: 1
- Penalties: $1,820
Crumbl did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
cookie war
Earlier this year, Crumbl fired the first shot in Utah’s ongoing “cookie war” by filing a federal lawsuit accusing rivals Dirty Dough and Crave of what it calls “confusingly similar” logos, websites and other marketing materials. . The lawsuit also accused Dirty Dough of copying recipes, claiming the founder’s brother is a former Crumbl employee.
The lawsuits, filed in US District Court on May 10, indicate that Crumbl is seeking triple damages from Crave and Dirty Dough, in an amount deemed fair by the court. An amended lawsuit against Crave was filed on 29 June.
Furthermore, the lawsuits filed against Crave claim that Crave co-founder Trent English visited a Crumbl location and even applied to be a franchisee shortly before starting his own business in 2019.
Crave filed a response to the lawsuit on June 8, denying that the Englishman requested or was denied a Crumbl franchise. He also denies that Crave is infringing any intellectual property rights.
The lawsuit against Dirty Dough claims that Bradley Maxwell, identified as the founder of Dirty Dough, was a process engineer at Crumbl from March 2019 to June 2019. Through that role, he became familiar with Crumbl’s recipes, methods and formulas , as well as its brand identity, the lawsuits allege.
He also signed agreements stating that he would not expose such confidential insider information at any time during or after his employment, according to Crumbl.
In Dirty Dough’s response to the lawsuit, the company said only that Maxwell worked for Crumbl in 2019 and denied all allegations of wrongdoing.
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