http://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/01/us/bias-suit-disabled-workers-meat-plant.html 2016-10-01 01:57:16 Bias Suit Filed on Behalf of Disabled Men in South Carolina Meat Plant The lawsuit comes after a Times investigation found that several older men with intellectual disability were living in virtual segregation in a seedy bunkhouse in Newberry, S.C. === Two years ago, several older men with intellectual disability were found living in virtual segregation in a seedy bunkhouse in South Carolina, across the street from the massive meat-processing plant where they once worked. One man was still working at the plant, disposing of the D.O.A.’s — that is, the poultry that arrived on trucks already dead. After The New York Times Now the federal According to the lawsuit, the company had discriminated for years against the men by providing little or no compensation for their work. In addition, the lawsuit alleges, Work Services had required the men to live in substandard conditions, restricted their freedom of movement, and deprived them of basic opportunities to engage with the world beyond the bunkhouse grounds. This illegal and hostile work environment, the federal agency said, included offensive name-calling rooted in the men’s disability. Robert A. Canino, a regional lawyer for the equal opportunity commission., described the case as “one of the most uncomplicated” that the agency has filed under the Americans With Disabilities Act — “a clear-cut matter of an employer exploiting the trust of vulnerable workers.” Telephone calls to Work Services were not returned on Friday. The Newberry lawsuit, filed on Friday, is directly connected to a more In fact, the men in Newberry and in Atalissa all initially worked for the same company, Henry’s Turkey Service, which recruited clients from state institutions in Texas, trained them, and sent them in batches to work in processing plants in several states. Many wound up in Atalissa, while others landed in Newberry. The equal opportunity commission and Mr. Canino won a landmark verdict against Henry’s Turkey Service in 2013, four years after nearly two dozen men were rescued from the inhumane conditions in Atalissa. A pair of Iowa social workers involved in rescuing those men then urged a Times reporter to follow up on clues indicating that a similar situation might be found in Newberry. Living there, in a bunkhouse created out of an interconnecting complex of shabby mobile homes, were several men with intellectual disability, including Leon Jones, who worked picking up dead poultry at the Kraft meatpacking plant across the street. He had once worked alongside his older brother, Carl, in Atalissa, but they had been split up by their employer, Henry’s Turkey Service. At 65, Leon Jones was living in an open dormitory, relegated to a small bed in a corner. He had a nightstand and the use of a locker. He also proudly pointed to a radio that he owned. Paul Byrd, the owner of this bunkhouse and of Work Services Inc., explained at the time that Mr. Jones was given $50 a week to spend at Walmart, but had not been on vacation in years. He said that neither Mr. Jones nor any of the other so-called Henry’s boys living there had bank accounts, and that he kept Mr. Jones’s life savings, about $6,000, in an envelope. Mr. Canino said that after the Henry’s Turkey Service scandal was exposed in Atalissa, many asked whether similar cases existed around the country. “The answer, sadly, turned out to be yes,” he said. “And what we found here serves to remind us all to remain vigilant against such abuse of our neighbors and co-workers.” Mr. Jones and five other men