Overview
Towards Justice filed a class-action lawsuit on behalf of hundreds of New Mexico workers with physical and intellectual disabilities who are employed in “sheltered workshops.” In these workshops, workers with disabilities scan and shred documents, remove staples from paper with their hands, drive around town to retrieve boxes for shredding, fix tears in documents, and perform a variety of other tasks. For their labor, workers are paid less than the New Mexico or Albuquerque minimum wage—sometimes as little as 18 cents per hour. Our clients seek an injunction against this anachronistic practice and backpay for illegal and unfair wages.