US Consulate in Milan: US company compensates workers with 30 million

A massive compensation payout: 30 million for workers exploited on the American Consulate’s building sites in Milan. This is provided for in the agreement signed by the Milan Public Prosecutor’s Office, the multinational Caddell and the court-appointed administrator placed at the helm of the construction firm by the court following the investigation into illegal labour recruitment. It is historically the largest settlement ever reached in Italia (involving a judicial approach never before used in Europe).

The American construction group, headquartered in Alabama, was placed under administration last June. The investigation led by Public Prosecutor Paolo Storari, with the support of the Nil unit of the Carabinieri in Milan, has shed light on what was really happening in the Portello district of Milan: the workers, managed on behalf of Caddell by a Turkish intermediary and brought from India to Milan, were constantly exploited, with fictitious wages from which the cost of food, accommodation and the fee to be paid to the gangmaster was deducted. Life on the building site was marked by abuse and threats, as reported in the many first-hand accounts gathered by the investigators.

Following the investigation, the investigating judge, at the request of the public prosecutor’s office, imposed judicial administration – a measure designed to ‘clean up’ the supply chain of illegal activities and to compel the lead company to put in place more effective control systems.

Now, after four months, it seems a turning point has been reached, with an agreement under which the company will pay out over 30 million to compensate workers for the damages they have suffered, ranging from material to non-material losses. The figure being discussed is an average of 50,000 euros per worker (with some receiving up to 90,000 euros). All construction site workers – around 450 in total – will be included in this massive compensation package, including those who were made redundant before the investigation (which began in June 2026), who will be entitled to unemployment benefit. Meanwhile, 50 NASPI benefits and 250 residence permits have been granted.

The company’s formal letter reads as follows: ‘We hereby authorise the Insolvency Administrator, Francesco Brigatti, with immediate effect, to draw upon the funds to make payments to employees in respect of overtime pay, reimbursement of accommodation expenses and compensation for non-pecuniary damage, up to a total amount of 19,730,126 euros”. The remainder of the funds made available will be paid to INPS and INAIL.