Owner of Mich. meat processing firm ordered to pay fines after teen worker lost hand in grinder

Saranac — The owner of an Ionia County meat processing business has been ordered to pay $1,143 in fines after a 17-year-old employee lost his hand in one of the company's grinders in 2019, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel said.

Darin Wilbur, 55, was ordered to pay the fines after pleading guilty on June 30 to employing a minor in a dangerous profession, while working for US Guys Processing, a meat processing company in Saranac, on November 19, 2019, Nessel's office said Tuesday, in a news release. The minor was operating the meat grinder under Wilbur's supervision when his hand was pulled into it during processing, according to Nessel.

Wilbur was investigated by the Michigan Wage and Hour Division, which determined that the unidentified minor was illegally employed under the Youth Employment Standards Act, saying Wilbur failed to ensure the minor obtained a work permit, prompting the attorney general's office to file charges.

“Our labor laws were written to protect children from dangerous workplaces," said Nessel at the time of Wilbur’s plea. "However, they lack the teeth needed to properly hold bad employers accountable for violations."

Ionia County Judge Ray Voet said the accident was a "horrible tragedy" but didn't warrant jail or probation for Wilbur, WOOD-TV reported.

"Two months later, we wouldn't even be here," Voet said, noting that the teen soon would have turned 18 years old. "Ionia County is a farming county, and I know a lot of people in this county view children working, sometimes around dangerous machinery, as part of growing up," the west Michigan judge added.

Defense attorney Howard Van Den Heuvel said Wilbur hired the teen, a high school dropout, as a way to help him. He said the teen was warned to never put his hand in the grinder.

Meanwhile, the attorney general wants the legislature to re-evaluate the fines for employing minors without the requisite permits, and the penalties for employing minors in hazardous occupations, which is currently a misdemeanor, she said.

"This case highlights the need to strengthen these protections, as well as the consequences for violations, and I look forward to working with the legislature on this critical work to protect the state’s youth.”

Detroit News staff contributed.

jaimery@detroitnews.com

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