Who is Rick Jackson and why is he facing scrutiny?
Rick Jackson is a Republican billionaire running for governor of Georgia on a platform that includes tougher immigration enforcement.
He’s drawing scrutiny because Avant Healthcare Professionals, a company under his Jackson Healthcare business group, just settled a lawsuit brought by immigrant nurses who accused it of underpaying them and using contract terms that made it hard to leave their jobs.
What did the nurses accuse Avant of doing?
Two nurses, Latoya Lewis of Jamaica and Lucinda Byron of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, filed the lawsuit in 2023. They claimed Avant recruited them with promises of solid pay and living conditions in the U.S., then paid them less than nurses hired directly by hospitals.
They also said Avant locked them into multiyear contracts and, when they tried to resign, threatened to report them to immigration authorities while demanding large payments. Court records show that after Byron resigned, the company sought more than $41,000 from her, giving her just 30 days to pay.
What happened with the lawsuit?
Avant denied any wrongdoing throughout the case. A federal judge let the human-trafficking portion of the claims move forward rather than dismissing it, and the case was later shifted to a Florida state court.
Then, on June 22, just days after Rick Jackson secured the Republican nomination for governor, Avant agreed to settle. More than 5,000 current and former immigrant employees became eligible for a share of a $3 million payout, and some had outstanding fees they owed the company waived entirely. A court approved the settlement in July.
How much will affected nurses actually receive?
Not much, according to a company spokesperson. Jessica Lacy of Jackson Healthcare said most eligible employees will get around $500 or less, and that many participants will simply have fees waived rather than receiving any cash payment. She also emphasized that the court never ruled Avant’s practices unlawful and characterized the settlement as a full resolution of the claims.
How does this connect to Rick Jackson’s immigration platform?
The overlap is what’s drawing attention. Rick Jackson has campaigned on cracking down on illegal immigration, and his spokesperson, Garrison Douglas, has clarified that his focus is on “criminal illegal immigration and adherence to the law,” not legal immigrants like the nurses Avant recruits.
At the same time, Avant’s own business model depends heavily on legal immigration pathways for foreign-trained nurses, the company even sued the first Trump administration in 2020 over visa-processing delays for Filipino workers, and its leadership has pushed back publicly against a $100,000 fee tied to H-1B visas.
What is Jackson Healthcare, and how big is it?
Rick Jackson founded Jackson Healthcare in 2000, and it has grown into a group of roughly 20 companies that staff hospitals and clinics around the country. Avant joined that group in 2018, and Florida business filings list Rick Jackson as its manager.
The company says it recruits nurses from abroad because U.S. hospitals are short-staffed, a shortage that’s expected to produce about 190,000 registered nurse job openings a year over the next decade, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates. Critics of this recruitment model argue it can leave workers dependent on a single employer and push wages down industry-wide.
Conclusion
Rick Jackson’s healthcare company settled a lawsuit alleging it underpaid and pressured immigrant nurses, just as he was becoming the Republican nominee for Georgia governor on an immigration-focused platform.
Avant maintains it did nothing wrong and says the settlement fully resolves the claims, while the nurses’ allegations, and the timing of the settlement, are likely to keep following Rick Jackson through the campaign.
