Dumb and Dumber: DOJ Pops Staffing Companies for Citizenship Discrimination Blunders

"The Justice Department announced today that it reached a settlement agreement with three Memphis-area staffing agencies: Prestigious Placement; PFSWeb Inc.; and its subsidiary, Priority Fulfillment Services Inc. The agreement resolves two complaints alleging discrimination under the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA).  The Justice Department’s investigation found that the companies refused to hire two qualified, Puerto Rican-born individuals because the companies believed that they were born in a foreign country. The companies rejected the workers’ valid Puerto Rican birth certificates and demanded that the workers present naturalization certificates, even though Puerto Ricans are U.S. citizens by birth." - DOJ, June 19, 2015.

"The Justice Department reached an agreement today with Accountemps, a division of Robert Half International Inc., a company based in Menlo Park, California, resolving claims that the company engaged in citizenship status discrimination in violation of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA).  The department’s investigation, based on a charge by a naturalized U.S. citizen, concluded that Accountemps refused to refer the charging party for a federal government contract position because, as a naturalized citizen, the charging party was not born in the United States. Under the INA, employers cannot discriminate against U.S. citizens based on their citizenship status, including refusing to hire them based on whether they were born in or outside the United States." - DOJ, June 19, 2015.