The Justice Department recently announced that it reached an agreement with Imagine Schools Inc. resolving allegations that the company discriminated under the anti-discrimination provision of the Immigration and Nationality Act when it fired an employee at its Imagine School in Groveport, Ohio in connection with a “re-verification” of his employment eligibility.
The facts appear to be that the employee presented a valid lawful permanent resident card when he was hired and which was used for purposes of completing the form I-9. So far so good. The problem it appears is that at a later date, Imagine Schools Inc. sought to re-verify his status and terminated him when he failed to produce an unexpired lawful permanent resident card. The settlement agreement states that Imagine Schools Inc. agrees to pay $20,169 in back pay plus interest to the charging party and $600 in civil penalties to the United States. They also agree to comply with the law, train their human resources personnel about employers’ responsibilities to avoid discrimination in the employment eligibility verification process, and are subject to reporting and compliance monitory requirements for 18 months.
Practice Pointer — do not re-verify lawful permanent residents status when their card expires and do not ask to see a specific document or documents when completing the form I-9. Doing both or either may mean you are afoul of section 274B of the Immigration and Nationality Act. Under the rules governing employment eligibility verification, certain documents, including lawful permanent resident cards and U.S. passports, are not subject to re-verification.