Neverland shut down in dispute

Michael Jackson: living in Bahrain
11 April 2012
The Weekender

Sign up to our free weekly newsletter for exclusive competitions, offers and theatre ticket deals

I would like to be emailed about offers, event and updates from Evening Standard. Read our privacy notice.

California state barred workers from Michael Jackson's Neverland Ranch and fined the singer £40,000 because the estate workers' compensation insurance policy lapsed

The "stop order" was issued after a worker reported this week that a colleague who had been injured did not have the state-required health coverage, said Dean Fryer, spokesman for the California Department of Industrial Relations.

Regulators found that coverage for 69 employees at the ranch in Santa Barbara County lapsed on January 10.

"In effect, it shuts them down," Mr Fryer said yesterday. "They're not permitting workers to be employed."

Jackson and his immediate family may still live at Neverland and he could keep the ranch running by hiring an outside company whose employees are covered by workers' compensation, Mr Fryer said.

Jackson, 47, has lived in the Persian Gulf nation of Bahrain since being acquitted of child molestation charges last year.

The 2,600-acre ranch boasts amusement park rides and has been home to elephants, giraffes, snakes, orangutans, tigers and a crocodile.

Mr Fryer said local animal welfare agencies were notified of the shutdown so they could make arrangements to feed and care for the animals.

The ranch operators have five days to appeal against the order and fine.

Meanwhile, if workers are seen at the ranch in violation of the order, the department can seek criminal charges or file a civil lawsuit.

The order is the latest in a slew of worker complaints against the ranch.

Since the beginning of the year, 47 employees have complained to the department that they have not been paid.

On Tuesday, the department sent a letter to an accounting firm that handles Jackson's business, demanding payment of 306,000 dollars (£180,000) in wages, and an investigation into the complaints is continuing.

The US Department of Agriculture sent an inspector to the ranch in December in response to a complaint from People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. PETA based its complaint on European newspaper reports that animals were kept in substandard conditions.

Federal officials concluded that there was no mistreatment.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in

MORE ABOUT