The Supreme Court rejected GEO Group's bid to appeal a lower court ruling allowing a lawsuit over alleged forced labor at its Colorado detention center to proceed. The unanimous decision means the private prison operator must face claims from immigration detainees who say they were forced to work for $1 a day.

GEO Group, one of the nation's largest private detention providers, manages 98 facilities with about 77,000 beds nationwide. The company argued it deserved immunity as a government contractor, but a judge rejected that defense. Similar cases have resulted in multimillion-dollar verdicts against the company, including a $23 million award in Washington state.

This procedural defeat doesn't resolve the underlying forced labor allegations, but it keeps the case alive for trial. The ruling comes as private prison companies face increasing scrutiny over their labor practices and government contracts. For GEO Group, which has contracts for federal immigration detention centers, the decision signals courts may be less receptive to immunity arguments as these lawsuits multiply.