CBS’ ‘Kid Nation’ May Have Violated Child Labor Laws

Mandy @ Gone Hollywood | Wednesday, August 22, 2007

“Kid Nation”, premiering on CBS on September 19, is a reality show, the premise of which is to take 40 children, ages 8 to 15, and place them in a “ghost town” in New Mexico to see if they can build a working society without the help of adults. But now the network may be in trouble for violating child labor laws, and documents are showing that producers were warned of the potential violations.

After production ended in mid-May, the parent of one child complained to state officials about the treatment the children received while filming. Four children received medical treatment for accidentally drinking bleach, one child was burned on her face with hot grease while cooking in an unsupervised kitchen, and most of the children were required to work 14 hours or longer per day. They received a payment of $5,000 for their participation.

CBS maintains that the children were not employees and that the network received no indication that it was violating the law. But on May 1, two weeks after a state labor inspector was turned away from the site, Andrea R. Buzzard, a New Mexico assistant attorney general, warned in a letter to lawyers for the production that the state did not agree with the network’s interpretation of state labor law.

Mr. Castaneda said the producers of “Kid Nation” should have followed a special permit process that is often used for things like Boy Scouts and Boys and Girls Clubs.

“We have requests for these permits every summer, to waive the child labor laws and minimum wage rights for camps,” he said. “We were not trying to put obstacles in front of the production. We wanted to provide for the safety of children.”

CBS officials had used the “camp” designation to characterize the reality show in discussions with parents, but Castaneda said CBS never applied for such an exemption.

There also may have been housing violations related to a state law that requires residential units like the one housing the show’s participants to be licensed.

When a state labor inspector came to the set, he waited for an hour and then was told that the executive producer, Tom Forman, would not be available that day. He was not allowed onto the property the next day. The visits were prompted by an anonymous phone call reporting on the activity involving children on the ranch.

Did anyone think this show was a good idea from the start? It was like a lawsuit waiting to happen.

Source: “CBS Was Warned on ‘Kid Nation,’ Documents Show” [NY Times] via [Drudge Report]; Photo: CBS