On November 20, 2023, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced that it secured a $700,000 agreement with Covenant Transport Inc., and an affiliated entity, Transport Management Services LLC, two transportation logistics and long-haul trucking companies headquartered in Chattanooga, Tennessee. The agreement resolves the department’s determination that the companies violated the anti-discrimination provision of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) by routinely discriminating against non-U.S. citizen workers when checking their permission to work in the United States.
DOJ’s investigation found that from January 2020 through August 2022, Covenant and Transport routinely discriminated against non-U.S. citizens by requiring lawful permanent residents to show their permanent resident cards (green cards) and by requiring other non-U.S. citizens to show documents related to their immigration status. DOJ noted that federal law ” allows all workers to choose which valid, legally acceptable documentation to present to demonstrate their identity and permission to work.”
Under the terms of the agreement, Covenant and Transport will pay $700,000 in civil penalties to the United States, train their employees on the INA’s anti-discrimination requirements, revise their employment policies, and be subject to monitoring by DOJ.
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