DOJ Sues Casino for Discriminating Against Non-Citizens

Federal law prohibits treating job applicants and employees differently based on their citizenship status, as long as the applicants and employees are authorized to work in the United States. The Department of Justice recently filed a lawsuit against a Las Vegas casino, alleging that it required non-citizen employees to produce more — or different — documents and information than the law required them to produce. The lawsuit also alleges that the casino required employees who were lawful permanent residents to undergo unnecessary reverification procedures. The suit asks for “full remedial relief to work-authorized non-U.S. citizen employees for the losses they have suffered, including back pay and reinstatement,” as well as an unspecified fine.

The federal Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) contains an anti-discrimination provision that prohibits (with some limited exceptions) discrimination in hiring, firing and recruitment based on citizenship status or national origin. The INA also prohibits “document abuse” during employment-eligibility verification and prohibits retaliation or intimidation against employees who assert their rights under the Act. The Office of Special Counsel for Immigration-Related Unfair Employment Practices, which is part of the Department of Justice, is responsible for enforcing the INA’s anti-discrimination provision.

WeComply’s preventing discrimination and harassment courses, offered in various media and in different versions for managerial and nonmanagerial employees, cover the essential elements of discrimination law that employees need to know to recognize workplace issues and respond to them appropriately.

Posted by WeComply on June 18, 2012 WeComply is a leading provider of customizable online ethics and compliance training solutions, offering more than 100 courses on such topics as anti-corruption, antitrust, Code of Conduct, preventing discrimination and harassment, data privacy and security, insider trading and whistleblowing.