the lawsuits filed tuesday in federal court accuses top church leaders of pulling children in hildale , utah , and colorado city , arizona , out of school for weeks to work during the 2012 - 13 pecan harvest , all while not paying members for their work .
flds leaders are accused of directing schools in hildale , utah and northern arizona to harvest pecans .
“ for years , these employers have trampled on the rights of workers , both children and adults , and violated our child labor laws forcing minors to work for them , ” david weil , administrator of dol ’s wage and hour division .
the lawsuit naming flds bishop lyle jeffs ; member dale barlow , who supervised the ranch ; and the two operating branches of the church , the corporation of the president and corporation of the presiding bishop , is seeking back wages for the 1,400 workers .
because no record of the work was kept , it is unclear just how the department of labor ( dol ) is fining one of the largest fundamentalist mormon churches $ 1.9 million for allegedly violating child labor laws .
these children worked for the defendants knew that they were harvesting pecans .
on wednesday , dol took administrative action to collect $ 1.9 million from flds church members dale barlow and brian jessop , and paragon contractors corp. for child labor violations that occurred during the 2012 - 2013 pecan harvest .
at least 1,400 flds children and adults allegedly worked in the fields for no compensation .