KFC's Chicken 'Supplier of the Year' Fined $1.4 Million After Workers Lose Fingers and a Leg in Accidents A Case Farms Processing Inc. facility in Ohio sounds like one of the worst workplaces imaginable, firing two employees after being maimed.
By Kate Taylor
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
A pair of industrial accidents is forcing KFC customers to take a hard look at how the chicken gets made -- and it's not pretty.
Case Farms Processing Inc., a chicken supplier for supermarkets and fast food-chains, including KFC, is facing more than $1.4 million in fines after two employees were maimed at work, reports Buzzfeed. Accidents at an Ohio processing facility led to one teenage worker's leg being amputated below the knee and another employee losing two fingertips, according to the Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).
Related: How a One Direction Misdirection on Twitter Inspired Burger King to Bring Back Chicken Fries
The employee who lost his fingertips injured himself while cleaning a fat sucker machine that was still running in March. Weeks later, a 17-year-old employee of cleaning subcontractor Cal-Clean had half of his leg amputated as he cleaned a liver-giblet chiller machine. Both workers were reportedly fired after their grievous injuries.
Case Farms has said that it does not agree with the negative characterizations and that it is in the process of reviewing the citations.
The poultry farming and processing group has more than 3,200 employees. The company reports it processes 2.8 million birds per week and 900 million pounds of poultry products per year. In August, KFC awarded Case Farms the title of "Supplier of the Year."
Related: 7 Things You Didn't Know About the Real Colonel Sanders