DOJ Settles Immigration-Related Discrimination Claim Against Macy’s

DOJ, June 22, 2016- "The Justice Department reached an agreement today with Macy’s over allegations that the large national retailer violated the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) by discriminating against work-authorized non-U.S. citizens at its Glendale, California, location.

The department’s investigation was based on a charge filed by a lawful permanent resident whose hiring was delayed in October 2015. The charging party alleged, and the investigation found, that she was not able to begin working at Macy’s even though she showed sufficient proof of her work authorization because a Macy’s hiring official incorrectly believed that lawful permanent residents were required to produce unexpired permanent resident cards. The investigation also found that other human resource employees in Macy’s Glendale location were imposing the same unnecessary requirement on four other lawful permanent residents. In contrast, U.S. citizens were permitted to choose whichever valid documents they wanted to present to prove their work authorization. Under the INA, lawful permanent residents do not have to show their permanent resident cards when they start working. Instead, like all workers, they can choose whichever documentation the would like to present, such as a driver’s license and unrestricted social security card, from the lists of acceptable documents.

Under the settlement agreement, Macy’s will, among other things, provide additional training to its employees and assess its employees’ understanding of applicable rules. Macy’s will also pay an $8,700 civil penalty and periodically produce Form I-9 information to the department for review."