Rehab programs sued for putting addicts to work for free at chicken plants

A class-action lawsuit filed last week in Benton County, Ark., Circuit Court accuses two rehabilitation programs of violating Arkansas law prohibiting slavery by forcing drug addicts to work for free at chicken processing plants and a plastic manufacturing facility under threat of incarceration. The plaintiffs are addicts with drug charges ordered by the courts to enter Christian Alcoholics and Addicts in Recovery (CAAIR) and Drug and Alcohol Recovery Program (DARP), ostensibly to receive treatment for addiction.“Instead of receiving treatment, however, Plaintiffs were forced to work for various businesses in Arkansas performing demanding, dangerous manual labor for no pay. Those who are injured on the job are threatened with jail to coerce them into continuing to toil; those who are unable to work are actually jailed,” the lawsuit states.