Disabled Plant Workers Awarded $240 Million In Shocking Abuse Case

AP
Updated
mentally disabled workers were lodged in this bunkhouse by Henry's Turkey Service.
John Schultz, The Quad City Times/Associated Press

By Ryan J. Foley

IOWA CITY, Iowa -- An Iowa jury on Wednesday awarded a total of $240 million to 32 mentally disabled Iowa turkey processing plant workers for what government lawyers described as years of around-the-clock abuse and discrimination by the Texas company that oversaw their care, work and lodging.

The federal jury in Davenport determined that Henry's Turkey Service, of Goldthwaite, Texas, violated the Americans with Disabilities Act by creating a hostile living and working environment and imposing discriminatory conditions of employment. The jury also found that the company acted with "malice or reckless indifference" to the men's civil rights.

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