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OCAHO Levies $857K Civil Penalty in Immigration-Related Discrimination Case

December 12, 2018 (1 min read)

DOJ, Dec. 11, 2018 - "The Department of Justice announced that it has received a court order yesterday awarding the United States $857,868 in civil penalties, along with other relief, in the Department’s immigration-related employment discrimination lawsuit against Louisiana-based Technical Marine Maintenance Texas LLC (TMMTX), which provides contract shipyard labor, and Gulf Coast Workforce LLC (GCW), a related company.  The court previously found that the companies violated the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) by discriminating against workers based on their citizenship status during the employment eligibility verification process. 

The court’s Dec. 10 order follows its June 28 ruling that from at least January 2014 until at least July 2017, TMMTX limited the types of documentation different groups of workers could provide to establish their work authorization based on the workers’ citizenship status.  The United States’ complaint against the company, filed in July 2017, alleged that the company asked U.S. citizens to produce “IDs” and Social Security cards, while requesting immigration documents from non-U.S. citizens.  After the companies refused to comply with court procedures and orders during the litigation, the court sanctioned the companies and held both companies liable for discriminatory documentary practices. The INA prohibits employers from limiting workers’ choice of documentation to present for employment verification based on the workers’ citizenship, immigration status, or national origin.

The Dec. 10 order resolves outstanding issues about the penalties and remedies to be awarded to the United States.  In adopting the Department’s penalty recommendation, the court considered TMMTX’s and GCW’s misconduct during the litigation and the companies’ ongoing failure to submit any evidence to the court.  In addition to the $857,868 civil penalty for which TMMTX and GCW are jointly and severally liable, the court’s order yesterday granted the Department’s request that the companies train their staff on the INA and be subject to departmental monitoring and reporting requirements for three years. 

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