OCAHO Reduces I-9 Fine from $36K to $14.5K - USA v. Cawoods Produce

USA v. Cawoods Produce - "” ICE assessed a total fine of $36,465 for all three Counts. ... ICE is not entitled to summary decision as to its penalty assessment. Pursuant to well-established OCAHO case law, all of Cawoods’ substantive violations are considered serious and should aggravate the fine amount. Nevertheless, the violations are not all of equal seriousness and the differing degrees of seriousness for the twenty-six violations are reflected in the final penalty assessment. Moreover, significant mitigating factors have been considered in assessing the penalty, such as Cawoods’ status as a small business and its request that the policy of leniency toward small businesses be employed in assessing the penalty. After conducting a de novo review of the fine amount, the appropriate penalty for the twenty-six paperwork violations is $14,575."