" Third lawsuit this month filed over forced labor at chicken plants ", 26 Oct 2017

...[A] new class-action lawsuit filed this week in Arkansas...targets...two rehab programs that operate along the Arkansas-Oklahoma border – Christian Alcoholics and Addicts in Recovery, and Drug and Alcohol Recovery Program. The programs put men to work for free in chicken processing plants and a plastic manufacturer, under threat of prison. Simmons Foods and Hendren Plastics each pay a discounted rate for cheap labor from the rehab programs, according to the complaint. The rehabs keep the money. The men are paid nothing...

Reveal [news] found men at CAAIR...were often injured in the chicken plants. The program is now the subject of investigations by three governmental bodies and the ACLU of Arkansas and Oklahoma...

The lawsuit alleges that both programs violate the Arkansas Constitution, which bans unpaid, forced labor...

Janet Wilkerson, the CEO of CAAIR, [said] the program plans to defend itself in court...Donny Epp, a spokesman for Simmons Foods, said, “the claims by former CAAIR participants of their experiences are inconsistent with Simmons’ operational policies and core values.”... Hendren Plastics did not respond to requests for comment.