August 19, 2025
GEO Group told the Ninth Circuit it plans to ask the U.S. Supreme Court to weigh into a case that has it on the hook for $23.2 million after paying immigration detainees $1 a day for the work they performed behind bars.
August 13, 2025
A deeply divided Ninth Circuit on Wednesday denied private detention operator GEO Group's request to review the appellate court's decision upholding $23 million in judgments against the company over its failure to pay detainees minimum wage for work behind bars.
March 21, 2025
A Ninth Circuit panel disregarded Congress' wishes when it ordered the GEO Group to pay $23.2 million because it needed to pay detainees in a work program under Washington state's minimum wage, the government said, backing the company's bid for rehearing.
February 07, 2025
A Ninth Circuit panel decision holding GEO Group to Washington state's minimum wage standards discriminated against the federal government, the private prison giant argued, urging the full court to mull a case that has the company on the hook for $23.2 million.
January 16, 2025
A split Ninth Circuit panel on Thursday upheld a $23.2 million district court judgment in favor of a class of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detainees and Washington state, ruling that the GEO Group isn't immune from paying the detainees the state minimum wage for their involvement in a work program.
December 06, 2024
Private prison contractor The GEO Group Inc. told the Ninth Circuit on Friday that a recent ruling in the same court underscores its assertion that only the federal government can say whether a minimum wage must be paid to detained immigrants participating in a voluntary work program in Tacoma, Washington.
April 10, 2024
The U.S. Department of Justice's argument for federal supremacy as grounds to deny immigrant detainees minimum wage in the workers' fray with detention operator GEO Group doesn't hold up to scrutiny, attorneys say, in a case that has helped shine a light on employee rights for those behind bars.
March 25, 2024
A group of immigrant detainees has urged the Ninth Circuit to reject the federal government's stance that a privately run detention center in Tacoma is exempt from Washington's minimum wage, saying the United States has failed to point to any conflicting federal laws.
February 23, 2024
The federal government told the Ninth Circuit that immigrant detainees at contractor-run facilities aren't covered by state labor laws, backing GEO Group Inc.'s effort to overturn $23.2 million in judgments that found a detainee work program violated Washington's minimum wage law.
December 21, 2023
The Washington Supreme Court said Thursday that civil detainees confined to a privately run facility and working while behind bars are considered employees and entitled to the state minimum wage — a decision that will likely ripple across other cases on the same issue.