Executive Summary
- Employees of Utah landscape company Rubicon have filed a federal lawsuit against former Attorney General Sean Reyes, an ally of Donald Trump.
- The suit alleges Reyes orchestrated a televised raid based on false human-trafficking claims for political purposes.
- The legal action follows the 2024 dismissal of all criminal charges against the company, with a judge citing false information used to obtain warrants.
- Workers are seeking damages for layoffs, pay cuts, and financial harm resulting from the raid and subsequent loss of business.
Employees of the Utah-based landscape company Rubicon have filed a federal lawsuit against former state Attorney General Sean Reyes, a known ally of former President Donald Trump. The complaint, filed Tuesday, alleges that Reyes and his office misused their authority for political purposes by orchestrating a televised raid based on false human-trafficking allegations that were later dismissed.
Allegations of a Politically Motivated Attack
The lawsuit seeks compensation for employees who suffered financial harm after the November 20, 2023, raid, which was filmed by a local news affiliate. The complaint alleges that officials, under Reyes’s direction, used fabricated information to secure warrants and launch a high-profile case against the company. This action by the employees follows a similar, separate $1 billion lawsuit filed by Rubicon and its parent company, Scandia, which makes corresponding allegations.
According to the plaintiffs, the raid was strategically timed just days after the Utah legislature approved an audit into Reyes’s office, specifically examining his ties to Tim Ballard, the founder of the anti-trafficking organization Operation Underground Railroad. The lawsuit posits the raid was an attempt to create a public perception of aggressive action against human trafficking to distract from the audit.
Impact on Workers and Company
The criminal charges against Rubicon, which included over 50 counts related to human trafficking, were dismissed in 2024. A judge determined the charges were filed prematurely and many of the warrants had been obtained using false information. However, the damage was already done. Dario Benitez, a Rubicon employee and plaintiff, stated the company lost over half of its contracts, leading to four rounds of layoffs, pay reductions, and the loss of bonuses. “Some of those employees laid off still have not found work,” Benitez said. “Employees who were able to keep their jobs suffered pay reductions.”
Seeking Accountability
The legal actions from both the company and its employees aim to hold the former attorney general’s office accountable for what they describe as a manufactured crisis that crippled their business and livelihoods. “The goal of this filing is to correct the record and us as individuals to move forward with our lives,” said Scott Bennion, an employee at Rubicon’s parent company. The Utah attorney general’s office and Reyes did not respond to requests for comment on the lawsuit. It is important to note that allegations within a civil lawsuit represent one side of a dispute, and all individuals are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.