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12 March
2006
Michael Jackson
To Remove Neverland Workers
Michael
Jackson
has been ordered to pay a £40,000
fine and remove 69 employees from his
Neverland Ranch in Los Olivos, California,
for allowing workers' compensation
insurance to lapse.
The
state issued the order two days after a
Neverland Ranch worker reported that a
colleague who was injured did not have the
state-required health coverage, said Dean
Fryer, a spokesman for the California
Department of Industrial
Relations.
A
subsequent investigation determined that
coverage for 69 employees at the Santa
Barbara County ranch had lapsed on January
10 2006, Fryer said.
"In
effect, it shuts them down," Fryer said of
the order. "They're not permitting workers
to be employed.
Jackson
and his immediate family may still live at
Neverland, however, and he could keep the
ranch running by hiring an outside company
whose employees are covered by workers
compensation, Fryer said.
Raymone
Bain, a spokeswoman for Michael Jackson,
said the singer was on a plane from London
to the Persian Gulf nation of Bahrain
after travelling in Europe.
She said
he learned of the situation of Neverland
when he arrived in Bahrain late in the
day, but she had been unable to discuss it
with him because of the time
difference.
"He's
been made aware," Bain said. "I'm sure
this will be resolved.
Jackson,
47, has lived in Bahrain since being
acquitted of child molestation charges
last year.
About 47
employees have complained that they
haven't been paid, Fryer said. On Tuesday,
the department sent a letter to an
accounting firm that handles Jackson's
business, demanding payment of
£177,000 in wages. Meanwhile, an
investigation into the complaints is
continuing, Fryer said.
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