Lawsuit over forced labor at Lackawanna County Recycling Center reinstated
Feb. 13—A federal appeals court reinstated a proposed class-action lawsuit filed by three former Lackawanna County Prison inmates who alleged they were coerced into working at the county's recycling center.
The 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals said U.S. District Judge Robert D. Mariani erred when he dismissed a lawsuit filed by William Burrell Jr., Dampsey Stuckey and Joshua Huzzard, each jailed for failing to pay child support.
Burrell initially filed suit in 2014. Attorneys with Towards Justice, a Colorado-based worker's rights group, filed an amended complaint in 2019 against the county, the Lackawanna County Solid Waste Management Authority and Lackawanna Recycling Center, a private company owned by brothers Louis and Dominick DeNaples, that operates the center. It also named the DeNaples brothers individually.
The suit challenges a policy that required child support debtors to first work at the recycling center for $5 a day before they could qualify for the county prison's work release program. The county halted the policy in 2020, but that did not affect the lawsuit.
The suit alleges, in part, that the policy equated to forced labor and violated the Trafficking Victims Protection Act, which protects against human trafficking. It seeks damages for the lead plaintiffs and, if a judge approves it as a class action, potentially hundreds of other child support debtors who worked at the recycling center.
The county and other defendants sought to dismiss the suit, arguing the debtors voluntarily worked at the center. Mariani granted the motion in August 2021.
In reversing the ruling, the 3rd Circuit Court expressed concern that the county and authority exploited the debtors to obtain "nearly free labor" that benefited the DeNaples brothers and the authority. It noted the authority's contract with the Lackawanna Recycling Center called for the business to retain the first $60,000 in revenue, with the authority sharing in any profit after that.
The court also reversed Mariani's ruling that dismissed a claim that sought minimum wage for the hours the debtors worked. Mariani said minimum wage does not apply to work prisoners perform that benefits a prison.
The appellate court said this case differs because the debtors' work benefited the authority and a private company.
"Plaintiff's off-site work, not done for the benefit of the jail but rather for the benefit of the public-private partnership between the municipal authority and recycling center, is markedly different than inmates doing work within a facility," the court said.
The court's ruling reinstates claims against the county, the Lackawanna Recycling Center and the authority. It upheld dismissal of claims against the DeNaples brothers individually.
Lackawanna County Solicitor Frank Ruggiero declined to comment on the ruling. Attempts to reach attorneys for the authority and the Lackawanna Recycling Center were unsuccessful.
Contact the writer: tbesecker@timesshamrock.com; 570-348-9137; @tmbeseckerTT on Twitter.
