DALLAS (AP) — A federal judge says a Texas company has engaged in an elaborate scheme to shield assets from a multimillion-dollar judgment for mistreating 32 mentally disabled workers at an Iowa labor camp.
The order by U.S. District Judge Jorge Solis of Dallas overrides a confidential settlement that would have allowed a land deal by Goldthwaite, Texas-based Henry’s Turkey Service to hide $600,000 from the workers.
A federal jury in Iowa had returned a verdict of $240 million against the company and owner Kenneth Henry, agreeing they discriminated against the employees hired out to work at an Iowa turkey processing plant. The verdict was the largest in the history of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, which brought the case, but was later reduced to more than $5 million.