PRACTITIONER BLOG
Read our analyses of developments in Impact Litigation and stay current on class action law
Forced Labor Suit Leads To Detained Worker Bill of Rights
With no real choice, Mr. Hill Barrientos worked in the kitchen in SDC’s so-called “Voluntary Work Program,” cooking meals for up to 2,000 people daily. He regularly worked eight- to nine-hour shifts, and usually received $4 to $5 per day (or 50 cents per hour). Since SDC did not have outside kitchen staff other than a handful of supervisors, officers usually required Barrientos to work seven days a week, even when he was sick. After filing a grievance for being forced to work while sick, he was put in solitary for over a month.
Latinx Workers Reach Groundbreaking Class Action Settlement in Immigration Raid Case
In April 2018, an immigration raid at the Southeastern Provision meatpacking plant in the small town of Bean Station, Tennessee upended a community. Federal agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Customs and Border Protection (CBP), and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) descended on the plant alongside Tennessee Highway Patrol troopers and local police officers. Armed with long guns and raid gear, agents detained around 100 Latinx workers, transported them to a National Guard armory, and placed most in deportation proceedings.
Historic Ruling Upholds Rights of American Muslims
Last month, we received a ruling from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit in the case Hassan et al v. The City of New York that created the first precedent to suggest that American Muslims should be free from suspicionless surveillance based solely upon their religion, notwithstanding government claims of national security. The District Court had dismissed our challenge to the New York City Police Department’s Muslim spying program, which the Court of Appeals overturned in spectacular fashion.