Thread: Lawsuit

Originally Posted by Mamie

I believe government officials have immunity when operating in their 'official capacity.' However, if they are operating outside of the law, in violation of or in excess of the constitution, they can be held personally liable.

You are correct, but in order to overcome their immunity and their presumption of good faith, the plaintiff must prove not only the fact but also intent. Intent is notoriously difficult to prove in even the best circumstances. The state usually has an easier time proving intent in criminal cases because prosecutors have broad search and seizure latitude may much more easily obtain incriminating documents. Plaintiffs in lawsuits have only the discovery process at their disposal unless they have had the good fortune to come across incriminating documents or verifiable statements by some other seredipitous means. That's why you almost never see lawsuits against any government official outside law enforcement and few successful lawsuits against even police officers.

Local/state
Employer
DISCRIMINATION............the Pro Illegal groups are suing for "discrimination" on behalf of the ILLEGALS and winning.

It could be reversed and used for American Citizens

I am not a lawyer by any means but I was reading yesterday about a company in GA (that deals with Vidalia onions) that did not hire US citizens so that they could hire Mexicans. They were charged with discrimination and lost. Also the Senate as a whole could not be sued but, if a lawyer could voice in, we could sue an individual senate member for not supporting the rights of US citizens, i.e. they are voting against our rights for those of ILLEGAL aliens - McCain, Kennedy, et al.

First........WELCOME, portaltotx !
Glad to have you with us.

Question...can you pull up info on the Georgia suit? Who were the lawyers, etc. Whatever you can?

It might help with moving forward in this discussion.
THANX!

Here is the website
http://www.usdoj.gov/crt/activity.html#emp

I've highlighted in bold about th GA company.

OFFICE OF SPECIAL COUNSEL FOR IMMIGRATION RELATED UNFAIR EMPLOYMENT PRACTICES
U.S. Department of Justice
Civil Rights Division
950 Pennsylvania Ave., NW
Office of Special Counsel, NYA
Washington, DC 20530
(202) 616-5594
Fax: (202) 616-5509
TDD: (202) 616-5525 or 1-800-237-2515

The work of the Office of Special Counsel for Immigration Related Unfair Employment Practices (OSC) can be divided into three major areas: (1) protecting U.S. citizens and legal immigrants from employment discrimination based upon national origin and citizenship status, unfair documentary practices, and retaliation; (2) prevention of unlawful discrimination through outreach, and (3) providing advice and counsel on policy issues affecting the civil rights of U.S. citizens and immigrants.

Prohibiting Unlawful Discrimination: OSC enforces the anti-discrimination provision of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), which prohibits citizenship status and national origin discrimination in employment, unfair documentary practices when employers verify the employment eligibility of employees, and retaliation. Congress created OSC primarily to address discrimination against individuals who allegedly look or sound "foreign" or who are not U.S. citizens.

OSC receives discrimination complaints directly from the public. Many charges are received from individuals who have limited English proficiency. Staff attorneys investigate charges to determine whether the employer committed unlawful discrimination. OSC also initiates independent investigations that may involve a pattern or practice of discriminatory activity and that may involve hundreds of employees. Attorneys travel frequently to interview witnesses and review documents. For meritorious claims, the attorney is responsible for settlement discussions and litigation before administrative law judges. Appeals are heard by the federal courts of appeal. The statute provides for a number of remedies, including the assessment of civil penalties, back pay, hiring or reinstatement of injured parties, and cease and desist orders.

For example, in March 2001, the Section reached a settlement with the Excalibur Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, resolving the Section's allegations that the hotel had discriminated against work-authorized aliens during the employment eligibility process. The Section alleged that rather than impose the same requirements on all employees, as is required by federal law, the Excalibur instead illegally held work-authorized aliens to different and more difficult standards than it applied to persons who asserted that they were U.S. citizens. The Excalibur's illegal demands resulted in the discharge or suspension of 22 of its workers. The Excalibur agreed to pay more than $50,000 in civil penalties and back pay.

On December 20, 2001, the Section announced that it had reached a settlement with Bland Farms of Reidsville, Georgia, the country's largest grower and shipper of Vidalia onions. Bland Farms agreed to pay over $62,000 in back pay to U.S. workers to settle the Section's complaint of citizenship status discrimination. In this case, the Section alleged that Bland Farms preferred to hire temporary agricultural workers from Mexico on H-2A non-immigrant visas rather than U.S. citizens or work-authorized immigrants. Bland Farms had initially asserted that it could not find U.S. workers who were willing to take field jobs or work in its packing sheds. However, the Section's investigation found that when U.S. citizens applied for work with Bland Farms, they were denied jobs or were offered less desirable positions. In addition to the back pay award, Bland Farms paid a $15,000 civil penalty.
In addition, the Section recently settled pattern or practice litigation against a nationwide meat packing company. The complaint alleged that one of the company's plants maintained a pattern or practice of citizenship status discrimination and unfair documentary practices against work authorized immigrants and U.S. citizens (who appeared "foreign" to company hiring personnel) with respect to the hiring process. The settlement requires the company to pay $187,500 in civil penalties and back pay, publish newspaper advertisements inviting alleged victims to reapply for positions, conduct employment interviews monitored by Section staff, and attend extensive training provided by Section staff.

The Hertz Corporation settled a complaint filed by the Section that alleged that the company terminated a lawful permanent resident after he presented valid documentation to establish his employment eligibility. The employee presented his valid foreign passport with an INS-issued lawful permanent resident stamp. The company believed that this type of document was "often forged by Mexicans" and insisted that the individual present a valid "green card." When the individual was unable to do so, he was fired, even though his attorney wrote to the company and explained that the individual had already shown appropriate documentation. Hertz agreed to pay a $50,000 civil penalty and back pay to the individual.

Furthermore, the Section has been following up on numerous complaints brought to its attention by individuals. Particularly in the wake of the terrorist attacks of September 11, the Section has ensured timely and ongoing responses to both employer and worker concerns about the employment of non-citizens in the aftermath of the attacks.

To further assist in protecting these workers, the Section maintains an ongoing relationship with other federal agencies to assist in ensuring the rights of work-authorized immigrants and U.S. citizens are protected. The Section has engaged in joint efforts with the Office of Refugee Resettlement, the Immigration and Naturalization Service, and the Social Security Administration ("SSA") to create SSA field guidance to provide expedited unrestricted Social Security cards to asylees. This will help ensure that asylees are not denied jobs because of INS processing delays of employment authorization documents.

The Section has expanded and improved its outreach program by increasing outreach to the employer community by using ethnic media to communicate OSC's mission to under- served communities, and by increasing our emphasis on establishing partnerships with State and local governments. The Section has also implemented a plan to create a more balanced outreach program. In the past, the Section's outreach has been primarily directed towards the worker community. However, the statute imposing the outreach requirements call for an outreach program that increases the knowledge of both employers and employees. In order to meet that requirement, the Section met with representatives of employer groups and sought their advice on how to better communicate with employers. The Section has tailored employee outreach to better reach under-served portions of the worker community by using ethnic media outlets more efficiently. Specifically, Section attorneys and staff will participate in foreign language radio programs. OSC staff also appeared on Haitian (Creole language) radio programs in New York City and Florida. Large numbers of Haitian immigrants depend exclusively on these types of programs for their news and entertainment

Let's keep pursuing this. Great information here.

I am hoping we can do something desparate before the Senate finishes their dirty work.