The Justice Department announced today that it reached an agreement with a Georgia based company, resolving allegations that the company violated the anti-discrimination provision of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA).
The Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division initiated its investigation of the company in 2012, based on a claim by an individual who called a department hotline and complained that the pecan-producing company requested specific documentation from her to establish her work authorization. The department’s investigation concluded that the company discriminated against work-authorized non-U.S. citizens by requiring specific and more documents than necessary from them when completing the Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification, while not imposing similar requirements of U.S. citizens.
Under the terms of the agreement, the company will pay $500 in civil penalties and be subject to monitoring of its employment eligibility verification practices for a period of one year. Designated company officials have already completed training by the Justice Department on the anti-discrimination provision of the INA. The case settled prior to the Justice Department filing a complaint in this matter.
