(RepublicanInformer.com)- UPS and the Department of Justice have reached a settlement agreement regarding discrimination related to immigration.
The DOJ discovered these claims while they were investigating the delivery company.
Earlier this week, the DOJ published a statement that said the settlement resolves the claims it had against UPS. The company was alleged to have discriminated against a person who isn’t a citizen of the United States when it asked him to provide more documentation that would prove he had permission to work for them.
The DOJ investigation revealed that UPS requested that a lawful permanent resident it recently hired provide them with a “work visa” and his Permanent Resident Card to prove that he had permission to work.
The resident who lives in Jacksonville, Florida, provided UPS with both his unrestricted Social Security card as well as his driver’s license. Both of those documents are considered enough proof that he has permission to work for them.
In addition, the DOJ said it found UPS asked the man to provide even more documentation, following a notification they received about an error with data entry. This software system is a proprietary program that UPS uses to verify and E-Verify all of its employees.
Instead of internally checking what the error might be, the DOJ said UPS officials demanded that the employee provide them with the additional documentation. The big problem, it seems, came about because UPS routinely checks their own mistakes in cases such as these with other employees who are U.S. citizens.
As a result of their investigation, DOJ said UPS violated the anti-discrimination provision of the Immigration and Nationality Act. That provision bans companies from asking any employee to submit “unnecessary documents” to prove they have permission to have employment due to the citizenship status they have.
Kristen Clarke, the assistant attorney general of the civil rights division of the DOJ, said in the statement:
“When checking an individual’s permission to work, employers cannot ask for more documents than necessary based on a worker’s citizenship status. The Civil Rights Division is committed to protecting workers from unnecessary document requests based on citizenship status and national origin.”
Included under the Immigration and Nationality Act, or INA, is the prohibition of discriminating against people when firing, recruiting or hiring based on their immigration status, national original or citizenship status. It also includes unfair practices when it comes to providing documents, as well as using intimidation and/or retaliation against people.
According to the DOJ, UPS agreed to pay a civil penalty as part of the settlement. The company will also conduct training for employees, teaching them how they should properly handle any notices regarding errors with data entry. The UPS will also subject itself to regular monitoring by the DOJ in the future.
Media outlet The Hill recently reported that it had reached out to UPS directly to get a comment from the company and to get more information on the issue, but the company didn’t respond to them.
