Immigration-Related Discrimination Alleged Based on I-9 Violations
On August 26, the Department of Justice reached a settlement with Kinro Manufacturing Inc. with regard to allegations that it “engaged in a pattern or practice of discrimination against work-authorized non-citizens in the employment eligibility verification process” by requiring certain new hires to provide proof of employment eligibility beyond that required by law.
Under the Immigration and Nationality Act (“INA”), employers are required to confirm that employees are authorized to work in the United States by requiring newly-hired employees to produce certain specified documents. More specifically, the INA requires new hires to verify identity and authorization to work in the United States by producing either: a document from “List A” of INS Form I-9; or a document from both “List B” and “List C” of Form I-9. Companies may not require new-hires to go “above and beyond,” by requiring them to produce more or different documents to verify employment eligibility. Kinro violated the law, according to the DOJ press release, by requiring non-citizens to produce documents “over and above” those required by law.
To settle the charges, Kinro agreed to: (a) pay a $35,000 fine; (b) alter its practices with regard to the employment eligibility verification process; (c) train human resources staff with regard to proper verification procedure; and (d) produce Forms I-9 for inspection, and produce pertinent reports regularly for twelve months.
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