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The GEO Group, Inc. v. Menocal

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Supreme Court of the United States
The GEO Group, Inc. v. Menocal
Docket number: 24-758
Term: 2025
Court: United States Supreme Court
Important dates
Argued: November 10, 2025
Court membership
Chief Justice John Roberts • Clarence Thomas • Samuel Alito • Sonia Sotomayor • Elena Kagan • Neil Gorsuch • Brett Kavanaugh • Amy Coney Barrett • Ketanji Brown Jackson

The GEO Group, Inc. v. Menocal is a case argued before the Supreme Court of the United States on November 10, 2025, during the court's October 2025-2026 term.

HIGHLIGHTS
  • The issue: The case concerns the collateral-order doctrine. Click here to learn more about the case's background.
  • The questions presented: "The question presented, which has divided the circuit courts 5-3, is whether an order denying a government contractor's claim of derivative sovereign immunity is immediately appealable under the collateral-order doctrine."[1]
  • The outcome: The appeal is pending adjudication before the U.S. Supreme Court.


    • The case came on a writ of certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit. To review the lower court's opinion, click here.

    Background

    Case summary

    The following are the parties to this case:[2]

    • Petitioner: The GEO Group, Inc.
      • Legal counsel: Dominic Emil Draye
    • Respondent: Alejandro Menocal, et al.
      • Legal counsel: Jennifer Dale Bennett

    The following summary of the case was published by Oyez, a free law project from Cornell’s Legal Information Institute, Justia, and the Chicago-Kent College of Law:[3]

    “ Alejandro Menocal and other immigration detainees brought a class action lawsuit against The GEO Group, Inc. (GEO), a private company that operates the Aurora Immigration Processing Center (AIPC) in Colorado under contract with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). GEO maintained a mandatory Sanitation Policy requiring all detainees to clean common areas including walls, floors, bathrooms, and recreation yards. Detainees who refused these cleaning assignments faced escalating disciplinary actions, beginning with suspension of television and phone privileges and potentially resulting in solitary confinement for up to seventy-two hours. Menocal, detained from June to September 2014, witnessed fellow detainees placed in isolation for refusing to clean, and multiple detainees testified to being threatened with or actually placed in solitary confinement for noncompliance. Additionally, AIPC operated a Voluntary Work Program where detainees could work up to eight hours daily in various jobs such as food preparation, barbering, and laundry services for compensation of $1.00 per day.


    Menocal filed suit in October 2014, alleging forced labor under the Trafficking Victims Protection Act for the mandatory cleaning program and unjust enrichment under Colorado common law for the $1.00 daily wage in the Voluntary Work Program. The U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado certified two classes in 2017, which the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit affirmed in 2018. Following discovery, GEO moved for summary judgment claiming derivative sovereign immunity under Yearsley v. W.A. Ross Construction Co. The district court denied GEO's motion in October 2022, finding that ICE neither directed nor required GEO to compel detainee labor or limit compensation to $1.00 per day. GEO appealed this denial to the Tenth Circuit, which dismissed for lack of appellate jurisdiction. [4]

    		”

    To learn more about this case, see the following:

    Timeline

    The following timeline details key events in this case:

    • November 10, 2025: The U.S. Supreme Court heard oral argument.
    • June 2, 2025: The U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear the case.
    • January 13, 2025: The GEO Group, Inc. appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court.
    • October 22, 2024: The United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit granted The GEO Group, Inc.’s motion to dismiss the appeal for lack of appellate jurisdiction.

    Questions presented

    The petitioner presented the following questions to the court:[1]

    Questions presented:
    “ The question presented, which has divided the circuit courts 5-3, is whether an order denying a government contractor's claim of derivative sovereign immunity is immediately appealable under the collateral-order doctrine.[4] ”

    Oral argument

    Audio

    Audio of oral argument:[5]




    Transcript

    Transcript of oral argument:[6]

    Outcome

    The case is pending adjudication before the U.S. Supreme Court.

    October term 2025-2026

    See also: Supreme Court cases, October term 2025-2026

    The Supreme Court began hearing cases for the term on October 6, 2025. The court's yearly term begins on the first Monday in October and lasts until the first Monday in October the following year. The court generally releases the majority of its decisions by mid-June.[7]


    See also

    External links

    Footnotes

    1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Supreme Court of the United States, "24-758 THE GEO GROUP, INC. V. MENOCAL QP", June 2, 2025
    2. ↑ Supreme Court of the United States, "No. 24-758 The GEO Group, Inc. v. Menocal" accessed June 10, 2025
    3. ↑ Oyez, "The GEO Group, Inc. v. Menocal," accessed November 13, 2025
    4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
    5. ↑ Supreme Court of the United States, "Oral Argument - Audio," argued November 10, 2025
    6. ↑ Supreme Court of the United States, "Oral Argument - Transcript," argued November 10, 2025
    7. ↑ SupremeCourt.gov, "The Supreme Court at Work: The Term and Caseload," accessed January 24, 2022
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