DAVENPORT, Iowa (AP) — An attorney for the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission says a Texas company subjected 32 mentally disabled men to shocking and disturbing employment and living conditions at a labor camp in rural Iowa.
Robert Canino told jurors in an opening statement Tuesday that Henry’s Turkey Service subjected the men to verbal and physical abuse that include being hit, kicked and knocked down. He says the men were forced to live in an unsafe bunkhouse that was infested with bugs while they worked on contract at a turkey processing plant.
Canino says Henry’s violated the Americans with Disabilities Act by subjecting them to harassment and discriminatory employment conditions. He’ll ask for damages for the emotional harm they suffered.
The trial at the federal courthouse in Davenport is expected to last two weeks.
