Private Prison Lacks Immunity in ICE Detainee $1-a-Day Wage Suit

Private prison operator the GEO Group LLC can’t use governmental immunity to shield itself from liability in a class suit over whether it violated Washington minimum wage law by paying immigrant detainees $1 per day, a federal judge in Tacoma ruled.

The company isn’t entitled to “special treatment” just because it contracts with the federal government, Judge Robert J. Bryan of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington said in denying judgment as a matter of law on the issue.

The Washington Minimum Wage Act is a neutral law that applies generally to private and public employers ...