Massive ($350K) I-9 Settlement: Masterson Staffing

Justice Department, Jan. 19, 2023

"The Justice Department announced today that it has reached a settlement agreement with Corp IV Holdings Inc., doing business as Masterson Staffing Solutions (Masterson Staffing), a staffing company based in Minnesota. The agreement resolves the department’s determination that Masterson Staffing violated the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) by routinely discriminating against its non-U.S. citizen workers when checking their permission to work in the United States. ... Under the terms of the agreement, Masterson Staffing will pay a civil penalty of $250,000 to the United States, and make $100,000 available for a back pay fund to compensate victims of Masterson Staffing’s alleged discriminatory practices. ... The department’s investigation determined that Masterson Staffing routinely required specific documents from newly-hired non-U.S. citizens to prove their permission to work in the United States even though Federal law allows workers to choose among legally acceptable documents, regardless of citizenship, immigration status, or national origin. Specifically, the department found that Masterson Staffing required lawful permanent residents to show their Permanent Resident Cards (sometimes known as green cards), and other non-U.S. citizens to show their Employment Authorization Documents (sometimes known as work permits). At least one asylee lost work because of this discriminatory practice. The department also found that Masterson Staffing routinely required certain lawful permanent residents to show unnecessary documents to prove their continued permission to work."