Supermarket fined after teen’s arm amputated

A Tennessee supermarket was fined more than $65,000 for allowing a teenager to clean a meat grinder, which led to the amputation of his right arm.

The U.S. Department of Labor on Tuesday cited Clarksburg Supermarket in Clarksburg, Tennessee, for violating the child labor requirements of the Fair Labor Standards Act that forbid workers under the age of 18 from operating or cleaning power-driven meat-processing machines.

The DOL said in a statement that the supermarket allowed two 16-year-old workers to clean a meat grinder, and while one boy reached inside the machine it started up and amputated his right forearm.

The supermarket’s owners, Terry Altom and Kenneth Lovell, were fined $65,289 under the Child Labor Enhanced Penalty Program.

The owners of the supermarket could not be reached for comment.