Streetsboro Slim Chickens owner fined for child labor violations

The U.S. Labor Department has levied a $15,504 fine against the owner of Slim Chickens in Streetsboro and Avon for hundreds of child labor law violations at both restaurants between 2020 and 2022.

In Streetsboro, from Oct. 17, 2020, to June 27, 2021, the Labor Department found records indicating that owner David Giesen employed over a dozen minors in violation of state and federal law.

Ohio law allows 14 and 15 year olds to work until 9 p.m. during school breaks of five days or more. Without exempting school breaks, federal law prohibits the teens from working after 7 p.m. from Labor Day through June 1, and after 9 p.m. from June 1 through Labor Day.

When federal and state law differ, the Labor Department expects employers to follow the stricter federal law.

At Streetsboro’s Slim Chickens restaurant, 33 minors were found to be employed in violation of state and federal wage and hour laws between Oct. 17, 2020, and June 27, 2021, said Scott Allen, a spokesman for the agency.

  • One violation involved a youth being employed during school hours
  • 559 violations involved youths being employed past 7 p.m., or past 9 p.m. between June 1 and Labor Day
  • 354 involved minors being employed more than three hours on a school day
  • 21 involved youths being employed more than 18 hours during a school week
  • and one involved a teen being employed more than 40 hours during a week that school was not in session

Also at Streetsboro, “the employer failed to keep the birth date for 13 minors,” Allen said. “We found a total of 13 minors (14 and 15 year olds) employed in violation of time and hour standards.”

Kim Nessel, director of operations for Slim Chickens’ Ohio locations, said Giesen was not directly involved in scheduling at individual restaurants. Apart from any damage the fine might present, Giesen will suffer no consequences, she said.

Slim Chickens paid the $15,504 civil penalty and agreed to immediately comply with federal child labor laws, she noted.

“He didn’t turn a blind eye. He had no knowledge of what was going on,” Nessel said.

Even after being warned of child labor laws, management at Slim Chickens in Avon apparently continued the practice.

“The restaurants’ operator blamed the child labor violations on managers confused by differences in federal and state wage laws, but our investigators found the employer committed the same violations after being informed of their requirement to comply with federal law,” said Matthew Utley, the Department of Labor’s wage and hour district director in Columbus.

At Giesen’s Avon Slim Chickens location, the Labor Department’s Wage and Hours Division found that from June 26, 2021, to June 13, 2022, 15 minors were consistently scheduled to work hours that violated child labor provisions in the Fair Labor Standards Act.

“Specifically, investigators found — on more than 330 occasions — the employer allowed minors to work later than 7 p.m. during the school year or after 9 p.m. between June 1 and Labor Day,” Allen said. “They also learned that, in more than 150 instances, minors under 16 worked more than three hours on a school day. Sometimes, the employer assigned minors to work more than eight hours on a day when school was not in session and more than 18 hours total during a school week, all in violation of federal regulations.”

When state or local laws differ from federal law, the regulation that best protects the employee should be followed, Utley said. 

“Employers subject to the federal Fair Labor Standards Act should use this case as a reminder of how to proceed when they find state regulation to be different,” Utley said.

Nessel blamed unstable management at both locations. Employee time records are now submitted to company lawyers on a weekly basis, she said, emphasizing that the illegal practices are a thing of the past.

“I can tell you that there has been a complete and total management turnover, including the managers that oversee the locations, and general managers have also turned over,” she said. “That [Streetsboro] restaurant, and Avon also, had multiple general managers. I don’t even know which managers were responsible for the violations, but none of them are with us any longer.”

Giesen owns and operates three companies — D&J Giesen, Ohio Slim LLC and Giesen Management Associates of Centennial, Colorado — as one unified enterprise. In addition to the Slim Chickens locations in Avon and Streetsboro, the companies also operate seven Freddy’s Frozen Custard & Steakburgers locations in Akron, Dover, North Canton and Zanesville, Ohio; and in Montrose and Grand Junction, Colorado.

Slim Chickens plans to grow in Portage County, but Nessel declined to identify any possible locations.

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Wendy DiAlesandro is a former Record Publishing Co. reporter and contributing writer for The Portager.