Department of Justice settles I-9 discrimination suit

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By Sylvia Hsieh
Dolan Media

The Department of Justice has settled a lawsuit against Farmland Foods, a subsidiary of Smithfield Foods Inc., that alleged the pork producer discriminated against non-U.S. citizens and foreign-born U.S. citizens in establishing their authorization to work.

The suit filed in June alleged that the company required extra work-authorization documents beyond those mandated by federal law, including requiring specific documents from non-U.S. citizens rather than allowing them to choose from a list of acceptable documents on an I-9 form, and requiring a passport from foreign-born U.S. citizens who had others ways of proving their work authorization.

“The Justice Department is committed to protecting the right of all work-authorized employees, regardless of their citizenship or immigration status, to work without having to overcome extra and discriminatory hurdles during the hiring process,” said Thomas E. Perez, the Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Civil Rights Division in a press release.

Farmland agreed to pay $290,400 in civil penalties, the highest civil penalty settlement since the Immigration and Nationality Act’s anti-discrimination provision was passed in 1986.