Thursday, March 28, 2024

DOJ Settles with UPS Over Discrimination Claims Against Migrant Workers

This week, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced that it had reached a settlement with UPS over discrimination claims against migrants. It is alleged that UPS discriminated against a migrant worker by asking him to present additional documents proving that he was allowed to work in the U.S.

The DOJ conducted an investigation, which found that UPS requested a lawful permanent resident in Jacksonville, Florida, to provide a valid work visa. But, the employee had already submitted sufficient documents such as his driver’s license, unrestricted social security card, and permanent resident card.

The department also found that UPS asked the employee to provide additional documents after getting a data entry error from the shipping company’s software program to verify employees. When the company acquired the error notification, they asked the employee to provide additional documents instead of checking for the cause of the error, which the company usually does for their employees who are U.S. Citizens.

The DOJ has said that it found UPS to violate the Immigration and Nationality Act’s anti-discrimination provision, which prohibits companies from asking for additional employee documentation based on their citizenship status. Under the settlement, UPS will pay a civil penalty, train employees on how to correctly handle data entry errors, and it will be subjected to monitoring by the department.

“The Civil Rights Division is committed to protecting workers from unnecessary document requests based on citizenship status and national origin,” stated Assistant Attorney General, Kristen Clarke, of the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division.

The Hill