The lawsuit seeks back pay of lost wages, alleging employees were not paid the lawful minimum wage or overtime.

The United States Department of Labor is suing James Brantley, the owner of the Grainger County slaughterhouse raided by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in April 2018.

The suit filed Monday in U.S. District Court in Knoxville seeks back pay for lost wages not paid to more than 150 employees who worked at the meatpacking plant, many of whom were in the country illegally.

The lawsuit alleges Brantley failed to pay employees the lawful hourly minimum wage or overtime for working more than 40 hours a week. According to the suit, Brantley did not “make, keep and preserve adequate and accurate records” of the people employed, their wages, or hours.

Grainger slaughterhouse owner's sentencing delayed KNOXVILLE, Tenn. - Sentencing for the owner of a Grainger County slaughterhouse raided last year by federal authorities for illegally paying undocumented workers is being put off at least 90 days because of "activities underway" in a related case, documents show. James Brantley was to face sentencing before U.S.

Brantley is awaiting sentencing in June after pleading guilty to counts of failing to collect and pay federal employment taxes, wire fraud and hiring unauthorized aliens. Sentencing was delayed in the criminal case because of "activities underway" in a related case, documents show.

In April 2018, acting on a tip, federal authorities raided the Brantley plant. They took dozens of illegal workers into custody.

During the raid, which drew national attention, federal agents found at least 104 "unauthorized aliens", according to the government. Brantley knew the status of at least 60 of those workers.

The "net effect" of Brantley's deceit amounted to $1.296 million in unpaid FICA taxes, documents state.

When filing IRS tax forms for the fourth quarter of 2017, Brantley only claimed to have 44 wage-earning employees.