An allegation of slavery has played into each of the last three Worst Employer winners. Thus, even at this early point in this year's list, I have a strong suspicion that today's nominee will finish strong at year's end.
Workers Held at Gunpoint in Modern-Day
Slavery Operation in Georgia, Feds Allege
I'll let Vice fill in the details about "one of the country’s largest-ever human trafficking and visa fraud investigations."
For years, dozens of Mexican and Central American laborers were brought to the United States to work on Georgia farms as modern-day slaves, according to a newly unsealed federal indictment.
Now, two dozen accused members and associates of the crime ring that orchestrated the workers' exploitation are facing a laundry list of felony charges—all thanks to a three-year, multi-agency federal investigation dubbed "Operation Blooming Onion," a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Georgia said Monday.
The allegations are just plain awful.
- Migrants were forced at gunpoint to dig onion with their bare hands for pennies per bucket.
- The members of the accused human smuggling and labor trafficking operation held onto passports and documents to keep the migrant workers from escaping.
- They also charged the migrant workers unlawful fees they could not afford and were then forced to work off the debt while threatening them with violence or deportation.
- Through all of this, the workers lived in cramped, dirty conditions, with little to no food or safe water.
We should all be appalled by this disgusting behavior that garnered this nominee a well-earned spot on this year's list.