LOS ANGELES — The US Department of Labor (DOL) announced it obtained a preliminary injunction that forbids three California poultry processors from violating child labor laws, failing to pay overtime, retaliating against workers, obstructing a federal investigation and shipping “hot” goods.

Central District of California Judge Mark Scarsi ordered the injunction on Oct. 16.

The order followed an investigation by the DOL’s Wage and Hour Division that reported child labor and wage violations at poultry processing facilities owned an operated by Tony Elvis Bran and The Exclusive Poultry Inc. in La Puente and City of Industry, Calif.

The DOL said Bran, along with Karen Rios, Juan Valtierra, Javier Meza and Jacqueline Garcia, operated an enterprise comprised of The Exclusive Poultry Inc., Valtierra Poultry LLC and Meza Poultry LLC, where minors were employed. The agency said employees under 18 years old were instructed to use sharp knives to debone and cut poultry.

The investigation found that the companies allegedly violated the Fair Labor Standards Act by failing to pay overtime wages, directing minors to work in prohibited facilities and employing minors outside of legal hours.

According to a release from the DOL, the employers threatened and retaliated against workers who raised concerns or tried to exercise their legal rights.

The processors allegedly shipped “hot” goods illegally, which in this case refer to poultry products produced in violation of overtime and child labor laws. Under the FLSA’s hot goods provisions, the injunction prevents Bran and his companies from shipping any products processed in plants in the last 30 days where oppressive child labor was used or handled by workers not paid overtime.

“Tony Elvis Bran and his associates directed young workers — including employees under age 16 — to work full time and not go to school and to engage in dangerous jobs, including deboning poultry in meat coolers,” said Ruben Rosalez, regional administrator for the Wage and Hour Division in San Francisco. “These employers endangered children, stole their wages and threatened them with retaliation if they spoke to investigators about their illegal activity.”