Adams v. Neubauer

# Adams v. Neubauer: Court Rules Prisoners Not Entitled to Wage Laws **What Happened** Three inmates sued Aramark Correctional Services and prison officials, claiming they were not paid fairly for work they performed while incarcerated. The prisoners argued they should receive the same wage protections that regular employees get under federal labor laws. **What the Court Decided** The Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a lower court's decision to dismiss the case. The court ruled that prisoners are not considered employees under federal wage and hour laws, which normally protect workers by requiring minimum pay and fair compensation. The court also found that prisoners have no constitutional right to be paid for prison labor. **Why This Matters** This ruling established that incarcerated people working in prisons cannot use federal wage laws to challenge low or nonexistent pay for their labor. The decision means prisoners have no legal protection for compensation through the same channels available to regular workers. This significantly limits what prisoners can claim regarding payment for prison work, regardless of how little they earn.