Thirty two employees with intellectual disabilities have been awarded $7.5 million dollars in a lawsuit filed on their behalf by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) for jobs they performed under contract at a turkey processing farm in West Liberty, Iowa between 2007 and 2009.
The suit alleged that the turkey farm exploited the workers because their intellectual impairment made them vulnerable and unaware of the extent to which their legal rights were violated.
The judge found that the employees were paid $65 per month rather than $11-12 per hour usually paid to non-disabled employees who performed similar work.
In the court proceedings, EEOC included the statement of a West Liberty Foods supervisor, who stated that the workers were as productive as other workers in the plant, and that they actually demonstrated their knowledge and skills to persons who were being hired to replace them as the Henry's Turkey contract operations were winding down.
Additionally, the employees lived in a "bunkhouse" that was closed down by the state fire marshal as unsafe: its heating was inadequate, the bug-infested building had rodent problems, and the roof was in such disrepair that buckets were put out to catch water pouring in. The EEOC, supported by testimony of the U.S. Department of Labor, maintained it was unlawful for the company to deny the workers their full wages and benefits by claiming a "credit" for these substandard living conditions.
In addition to the discriminatory pay practices which are the subject of the court's order, a trial will be held on the alleges that the company subjected the workers to abusive verbal and physical harassment, unnecessarily restricted their freedom, and imposed harsh punishments and other adverse terms and conditions of employment, such as requiring them to live together in substandard living conditions and failing to provide proper health care.