DOJ Sues Employer for Requiring Document Not on Form I-9 List

by Kevin Lashuson October 5, 2011

[Editor's Note: today's blog is courtesy of Kevin Lashus of Jackson Lewis LLP]

Justice Department prosecutors, acting in conjunction with the Office of Special Counsel for Immigration-Related Unfair Employment Practices, have filed a lawsuit against a medical services provider with skilled nursing facilities throughout California. The Government alleges in the September 30, 2011, complaint that the company engaged in a pattern or practice of discrimination by imposing unnecessary documentary requirements on naturalized U.S. citizens and work-authorized foreign-born workers.

The Immigration and Nationality Act’s anti-discrimination provisions prohibit employers from exceeding the verification requirements for work-authorized employees during the process of hiring based upon an applicant’s or employee’s citizenship status or national origin.

As detailed in the pleadings of the case, sometime in February 2010, a work-authorized foreign-born applicant for employment with the company was asked for proof of permanent residence. The applicant did not have proof of permanent residence, but presented a work authorization document instead — a List A document for federal Form I-9 purposes, a card that legally documented her authority to work in the United States. The company rejected her valid documentation because it contained a future expiration date and allegedly told her it could not hire her unless she presented a “green cardâ€