Jury selection began Monday in a class action trial against the GEO Group over forced labor allegations at the Denver Contract Detention Facility in Aurora, Colorado.
Alejandro Menocal and eight other named plaintiffs allege the federal contractor forced immigrant detainees to work for $1 per day from 2004 to 2014. Menocal claims he was held for three months in summer 2014 and faced solitary confinement if he refused work. The plaintiffs say GEO assigned detainees to clean toilets, strip and wax floors, do laundry, prepare meals, provide barber services, and perform clerical work.
The class action invokes the Trafficking Victims Protection Act's prohibitions on forced labor and alleges unjust enrichment. Menocal estimates at least 300 detainees are owed more than $5 million in wage violations. GEO reported $1.52 billion in revenue when the lawsuit was filed in 2014 and now regularly tops $2 billion in annual revenue.
GEO operates the 1,500-bed detention facility for U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement. The company claims it was following orders from ICE and Congress, which authorized contractors to implement a voluntary work program paying no less than $1 per day. GEO argues in its pretrial brief that imposing liability would punish the company for adhering to standards necessary for facility safety and cleanliness.
GEO also asserts qualified immunity based on performing a government function. Senior U.S. District Judge John Kane and the 10th Circuit have previously rejected this argument. The U.S. Supreme Court declined to review the case in February. GEO filed a new appeal on October 23, but Judge Kane proceeded with the trial.