On November 14, 2018, three immigrants detained at the Cibola County Correctional Center (“Cibola”) filed this putative class action lawsuit in the U.S. District Court of Maryland. The plaintiffs sued CoreCivic, Inc. under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and the New Mexico Minimum Wage Act (NMMWA). The plaintiffs, represented by private counsel, sought to recover underpaid wages and attorney's fees and require CoreCivic to treat all current and future Cibola detainees as employees so they would be entitled to minimum wage. The plaintiffs claimed that CoreCivic’s labor practices violated the Fair Labor Standards Act, the New Mexico Minimum Wage Act, and the common law doctrine of unjust enrichment. Specifically, the plaintiffs state that CoreCivic, Inc. used immigrants’ labor for services within the Cibola prison but paid them less than the federally mandated rate of $7.25 per hour, as required by the Fair Labor Standards Act.

The defendant filed a motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim on January 11, 2019, arguing that the plaintiffs’ custodial detention prevents them from assuming an employee/employer relationship. As such, the defendant alleged that the FLSA and NMMWA do not apply. Because the plaintiffs were not eligible for the minimum wage under those statutes, the defendant argued that the claim for unjust enrichment fails as well. This motion is pending.

On February 26, 2019, the plaintiffs filed a motion to certify a class conditionally. The plaintiffs argued that their detainment and working conditions at Cibola are sufficient conditions to meet the “similarly situated” threshold required to file a class action lawsuit. This motion is also pending. The case is ongoing.

Justin Hill - 09/23/2019


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