Private prison operator GEO Group Inc. is facing a lawsuit filed in federal court in Houston in late June over its alleged poor response to the coronavirus pandemic, The Real Deal reported.

Avery Ayers, an inmate in a federal halfway house in Houston, accused the real estate investment trust of not reporting three deaths related to COVID-19 at the facility.

Ayers also alleges that GEO Group did not observe proper safety and health protocols at the facility and threatened inmates if they called any county or city agencies to report the deaths or request for COVID-19 information or testing, according to the report.

The REIT did not immediately respond to The Real Deal's request for comment.

In April, class representatives of detained immigrants in GEO Group-operated facilities sought an emergency court order requiring the company to stop using detainee labor on general sanitation tasks amid the coronavirus pandemic.

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