DOJ, COMMERCIAL CLEANING SYSTEMS SETTLE IMMIGRATION DISCRIMINATION CLAIM

FROM:  U.S. JUSTICE DEPARTMENT 

Thursday, June 12, 2014

Justice Department Settles Immigration-Related Discrimination Claim Against Commercial Cleaning Systems

The Justice Department reached an agreement today with Commercial Cleaning Systems, a janitorial services company with headquarters in Denver.  The agreement resolves claims that the company discriminated against work-authorized non-U.S. citizens in violation of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA).

The department’s investigation was initiated based on a referral from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.  The investigation found that Commercial Cleaning Systems required work-authorized non-U.S. citizens to present specific documentation issued by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security in order to verify their employment eligibility, while U.S. citizens were permitted to present their choice of documentation.  The INA’s anti-discrimination provision prohibits employers from placing additional documentary burdens on work-authorized employees during the hiring and employment eligibility verification process based on their citizenship status or national origin.

Under the settlement agreement, Commercial Cleaning Systems will pay $53,500 in civil penalties, create a $25,000 back pay fund to compensate individuals who may have lost wages as a result of the company’s discriminatory document practices, and be subject to monitoring of its employment eligibility verification practices for one year.

“Discriminating against work-authorized employees because they are not citizens violates federal law and the Justice Department is committed to enforcing this law,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Jocelyn Samuels for the Civil Rights Division.  “We applaud Commercial Cleaning Systems for working cooperatively with the division to resolve this matter.”

The Office of Special Counsel for Immigration-Related Unfair Employment Practices (OSC) is responsible for enforcing the anti-discrimination provision of the INA.  The statute also prohibits, among other things, citizenship status and national origin discrimination in hiring, firing and recruitment or referral for a fee.  The case was handled by OSC Trial Attorney Linda White Andrews.

JUSTICE SETTLES IMMIGRATION-RELATED DISCRIMINATION CLAIM

FROM: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
Thursday, February 28, 2013
Justice Department Settles Immigration-Related Discrimination Claim Against Illinois Staffing Agency

The Justice Department today reached an agreement with The Agency Staffing located in West Dundee, Ill., resolving claims that the staffing company violated the anti-discrimination provisions of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA).

The Justice Department’s investigation was initiated based on a referral from the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) under a memorandum of agreement between the Civil Rights Division and USCIS. The department’s investigation concluded that The Agency Staffing applied enhanced employment eligibility procedures to work-authorized non-U.S. citizens that were run through E-Verify. The company did not utilize these additional procedures when it ran U.S. Citizens through E-Verify. E-Verify is an Internet-based system run by USCIS that confirms employment eligibility by comparing information from an employee’s Form I-9.

Under the settlement agreement, The Agency Staffing will pay $8,400 in civil penalties to the United States, undergo Justice Department training on the anti-discrimination provision of the INA, and be subject to monitoring of its employment eligibility verification practices for a period of three years. The case settled prior to the Justice Department filing a complaint in this matter.

"Employers cannot create higher hurdles for non-U.S. citizens in the employment eligibility verification process, which includes E-Verify, than those required of U.S. citizens or those required by law," said Thomas E. Perez, Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division. "We commend The Agency Staffing for restructuring its hiring processes to ensure that it will no longer be treating new hires differently based on their citizenship status."