http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.c ... L9EPJ1.DTL

SAN FRANCISCO
Chronicle, job-fair firm called biased against noncitizens
- Vanessa Hua, Chronicle Staff Writer
Thursday, September 21, 2006


The Chronicle and a firm that produces job fairs tried to bar noncitizens from an employment event in June, according to a complaint the ACLU and other civil rights groups filed Tuesday with the federal Justice Department.

The Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights, the American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California and the ACLU Immigrants' Rights Project allege that Expo Experts, a Cincinnati company that organizes job fairs in partnership with newspapers nationwide, discriminates against legal immigrants.

The complaint, filed in Washington, D.C., charges that the company illegally bars noncitizens from attending job fairs in violation of federal anti-discrimination laws and asks the Justice Department to impose civil penalties and issue a cease-and-desist order to stop the practice. The civil rights groups filed a companion complaint against The Chronicle, which co-sponsored the June fair with Expo.

An advertisement before the event, published in the newspaper and on its affiliated Web site, SFGate.com, said job-seekers were required to have U.S. citizenship to enter a pavilion featuring engineering, technology and security clearance positions, the complaint alleges. A second pavilion featured professional jobs.

When the Lawyers' Committee and the ACLU objected to the restriction in the days before the event, Expo Experts and The Chronicle removed the discriminatory language from the online version of the advertisement and opened both pavilions to all job-seekers, according to the complaint.

"The San Francisco Chronicle is aware that the Lawyer's Committee for Civil Rights has filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Justice," said Brandon Hamm, spokesman for the newspaper. "The Chronicle denies that it has violated any laws or acted wrongfully as alleged in the complaint. The Chronicle previously addressed concerns raised by the LCCR and considers the matter to be resolved. There is no basis for the complaint."

Susan Turner, Expo's president, said many government jobs require applicants to be U.S. citizens. "That's nothing we made up, or The Chronicle made up -- that's through the government."

E-mail Vanessa Hua at vahua@sfchronicle.com.