The mega-meltdown hit TV show "Jon & Kate + 8" is under investigation for breaking Pennsylvania child labor laws.
The state's Department of Labor is looking into whether the shows producers are complying with child labor laws. Investigators are gathering information from its represenatives, but officials are quick to point out an investigation does not mean suspicion: they investigate every complaint.
So who's behind this complaint and what's it about?
State officials aren't saying. But the couple's in-laws have openly called the show and the Gosselin parents "exploitative."
From MSNBC:
“Unfortunately,
I think it has come down to all about the ratings,” sister-in-law Jodi
Kreider told CBS’ “The Early Show.” “And no one is looking at these
children as what they are going through and the life consequences they
are going to have as they get older.”
Kreider said the children have told her they don’t like the cameras.
Her
husband and Kate’s brother, Kevin Kreider, said in the same interview:
“You can’t imagine as a child realizing that my birthday party, that
all the outings that my parents took me on were ... for ratings, and
all organized by production companies.”
A spokesperson for TLC said producers have been in full compliance with state laws and regulations.
Again, MSNBC:
State law permits kids who are at least 7 to work in the entertainment
industry, as long as a permit is obtained and certain rules are
followed. The law also allows performers younger than 7 to have
“temporary employment ... in the production of a motion picture.”
The sextuplets have just turned 5. Ahhh, but this is reality TV and here's one possible outcome:
George Voegele, a labor lawyer at Cozen
O’Connor in Philadelphia, said the Labor Department might well decide
it doesn’t have jurisdiction over the show, especially if investigators
determine the cameras are there to document the kids, not direct them.
“The
fundamental question I see here is whether or not they’re employees,
whether they’re working, and whether the Pennsylvania child labor law
provisions would even apply to this situation,” he said.
Hmmm. Maybe 'Jon & Kate' will have a legal impact on future reality TV shows starring, uh, I mean "documenting" children.
More Jon & Kate
As Much as You Disagree, Jon & Kate are Not Like Us
The Much-Watched Premiere!
Divorce Poll
More Posts
Photo:TLC
