OSC Settles Discrimination Cases In North Carolina And New York

IMMIGRANTS & EMPLOYMENT

IRCA Employment Verification and
Antidiscrimination Protections

OSC SETTLES DISCRIMINATION CASES IN NORTH CAROLINA AND NEW YORK
Immigrants' Rights Update, Vol. 18, No. 3, May 20, 2004

The Office of Special Counsel for Immigration Related Unfair Employment Practices (OSC) recently reached settlement agreements with two employers, one in North Carolina and the other in New York, both of which discriminated against non–U.S. citizens in the process of verifying their eligibility to be employed in the U.S.

The complainant in the North Carolina case alleged that Rex Healthcare, a private company that has several facilities in Wake County, North Carolina, unlawfully required proof of citizenship from non–U.S. citizen workers when they were completing the I‑9 employment eligibility verification process. Specifically, the complainant alleged that Rex Healthcare required her to produce immigration-related documents while permitting U.S. citizens to present any legally acceptable combination of documents, including a Social Security card and driver’s license. She also alleged that Rex Healthcare unlawfully retaliated against her for exercising her rights. Under the agreement, the employer agreed to pay a $3,600 civil penalty, post antidiscrimination notices, educate its personnel, and refrain from discriminating against U.S. citizens and work-authorized immigrants during its employment eligibility verification process.

In the New York case, the OSC reached a settlement with Triangle Services, Inc., a cleaning services corporation with offices nationwide. The OSC’s investigation found that Triangle fired a worker who is an asylum applicant when she could not comply with discriminatory procedures the company used to verify her employment eligibility. Though the Immigration and Nationality Act requires employers to examine documents from each new employee to verify his or her eligibility to work in the U.S., the INA also requires that employers treat all employees equally and that they not create eligibility verification standards for legal immigrants that are different from those they use for U.S. citizens. Triangle violated the law by rejecting the complainant’s valid Social Security card when she presented it, even though the company routinely accepts Social Security cards from U.S. citizens completing the I‑9 process. Instead of accepting the complainant’s Social Security card, Triangle requested that she produce an unexpired employment authorization document issued by U.S. immigration authorities.

Under the terms of the agreement, Triangle agreed to pay the complainant $1,433.90 in back pay and also pay a $550 civil penalty. Triangle also agreed to refrain from discriminating against non–U.S. citizens during its employment eligibility verification process, provide training for personnel in all of its offices nationwide concerning their responsibilities under the INA, and post notices in all of its offices nationwide regarding the INA’s antidiscrimination provision.

The OSC, which is part of the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Justice Dept., enforces the INA’s antidiscrimination provision, which prohibits employers from discriminating against individuals because of their citizenship or immigration status or their national origin when employers hire or fire workers, or recruit or refer them for a fee. The INA also prohibits employers from engaging in discriminatory practices when verifying employees’ eligibility to be employed in the U.S. The INA requires employers to examine documents from new employees in order to verify their employment eligibility, and it prohibits employers from treating citizens and noncitizens unequally. It also prohibits retaliation against individuals who assert their rights under the INA, assist with investigations, or file discrimination complaints.

Since FY 2001, the OSC has handled more than 1,375 charges and other allegations of discrimination, recovered $283,634 in back pay for victims of discrimination, and collected $399,281 in civil penalties. And through its employer and employee hotlines, the OSC resolves thousands of potential disputes annually, and has already handled nearly 8,000 such calls this fiscal year.

Individuals seeking more information about the OSC may call its worker hotline at 1-800-255-7688 or visit its website: www.usdoj.gov/crt/osc.