The Utah attorney general’s office has filed charges against a West Bountiful business owner and multiple executives who investigators say hired more than 100 Mexican laborers and forced them to work and live in inhumane conditions under threat of deportation, according to a report in the Salt Lake Tribune.
State investigators announced the case last week against Rubicon Contractors after arresting executives Clayton Phillips, Tyler Brinkman and Adam Perea. They were charged Friday along with owner Rudy Larsen, his wife Jena Marie and two other executives — Brandon Floyd and Kirk Simmons, court records show.
Court documents state the landscaping and snow removal company hired Mexican laborers using temporary H-2B visas, offering them full-time work for about $20 an hour. But once hired, the company allegedly bombarded workers with additional fees, investigators say, making it hard for workers to pay their bills and buy necessities.
Attorneys Skye Lazaro and Jamie Thomas, who are representing Rubicon on behalf of the Ray Quinney & Nebeker law firm, said in a statement released last week that the company “denies any wrongdoing and has complied in good faith with all applicable laws. Rubicon is cooperating with the investigation and believes it will ultimately be vindicated,” the statement read, according to a Salt Lake Tribune article.
Read more about the story at the Salt Lake Tribune's website.
