Billups v. Jade, Inc.

On August 4, 1988, in the district court for Lancaster County, Billy Billups, a Nebraska penitentiary inmate, filed an action against Jade, Inc., and its corporate subsidiary, La Pen, Inc. As the result of an agreement with the Nebraska Department of Correctional Services, Jade, and correspondingly La Pen, has a manufacturing business at the state penitentiary and employed penitentiary inmates to turn out sewn products. According to Billups, Jade and La Pen violated both state and federal labor laws by paying prison inmates less than the statutory minimum wage.

On May 16, 1989, the district…