A group of Utah landscaping employees has filed a federal lawsuit against the state’s former attorney general, alleging he orchestrated a high-profile raid on their workplace based on fabricated claims to serve a political agenda.
The legal action, filed Tuesday, contends that Sean Reyes and his office “violated the law to attack a Utah company for political purposes.” The plaintiffs are seeking compensation for the severe financial harm they suffered.
According to the complaint, officials used knowingly false information to bring a case that inflicted massive damage on the company before being thrown out. This lawsuit follows a separate billion-dollar claim by the landscaping firm and its parent company, which accuses officials of conspiring to manufacture bogus criminal charges.
The controversy stems from a November 2023 raid on Rubicon’s offices, conducted by the Utah attorney general’s Secure strike force and accompanied by television news cameras. The company faced over 50 human trafficking charges, all of which were later dismissed.
The lawsuit alleges these charges were filed under false pretenses shortly after state lawmakers approved an audit of Reyes’ office. The timing coincided with scrutiny over Reyes’ connections to Tim Ballard, founder of an anti-trafficking organization facing separate legal challenges.
“Government agents submitted materially false and misleading affidavits, then invited news media to film the raid,” the lawsuit states, arguing it was “foreseeable” this would cripple the business and devastate employees financially.
A judge ultimately dismissed all charges against Rubicon in 2024, finding they were filed prematurely and that many warrants were obtained through false information.
Dario Benitez, a Rubicon employee and plaintiff, described his disbelief when the raid occurred. “Rubicon workers were hit very hard,” Benitez said. “The company was fast-growing and never had layoffs before. Because of the attorney general’s actions, we had four rounds of layoffs.”
Benitez noted that many laid-off workers remain unemployed, while those who kept their jobs faced pay reductions and lost bonuses. The company lost over half its contracts following the raid, forcing employees to seek second jobs.
“The goal of this filing is to correct the record and allow us to move forward with our lives,” said Scott Bennion of Scandia, Rubicon’s parent company. “When accusations are made without evidence, the impact doesn’t simply disappear. Restoring accuracy is part of restoring trust.”
The Utah attorney general’s office and Sean Reyes have not responded to requests for comment on the lawsuit.
