The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced this week that it has reached a settlement with Rose Acre Farms Inc., the second-largest egg producer in the U.S., that resolves a long-standing lawsuit filed in 2012 alleging a violation of the Immigration & Nationality Act (INA) by discriminating against work-authorized non-U.S. citizens when verifying their work authorization.

DOJ's amended complaint, filed on Nov. 7, 2012, alleged that from at least June 2009 to Dec. 22, 2011, Rose Acre routinely required work-authorized non-U.S. citizens to present a Permanent Resident Card or Employment Authorization Document to prove their work authorization but did not require specific documents from U.S. citizens. All work-authorized individuals, whether U.S. citizens or non-U.S. citizens, have the right to choose which valid documentation to present to prove they are authorized to work. The anti-discrimination provision of the INA prohibits employers from subjecting employees to unnecessary documentary demands based on employees’ citizenship or national origin.

“The INA makes clear that when employers verify the identity and work authorization of employees, they must not treat employees differently based on their citizenship or national origin,” said John Gore, acting assistant attorney general of the DOJ Civil Rights Division. “This case demonstrates the department’s commitment to ensuring that employers implement the employment eligibility verification process in a manner that is non-discriminatory.”

Under the settlement, Rose Acre will pay a civil penalty of $70,000, train its employees on the INA anti-discrimination provision and be subject to departmental monitoring for two years.

The division’s Immigrant & Employee Rights Section, formerly known as the Office of Special Counsel for Immigration-Related Unfair Employment Practices, is responsible for enforcing the anti-discrimination provision of the INA. The statute prohibits, among other things, citizenship, immigration status and national origin discrimination in hiring, firing or recruitment or referral for a fee, unfair documentary practices, retaliation and intimidation.