The Department of Justice (DOJ) secured agreements in late November with a restaurant group and a trailer manufacturer to resolve immigration-related discrimination claims.
Restaurant Group
On November 26, 2024, DOJ announced that it secured an agreement with Anna Maria Oyster Bar Inc., a restaurant group based in Bradenton, Florida. The agreement resolves DOJ’s determination that the restaurant group “routinely discriminated against lawful permanent residents when checking their permission to work in the United States.”
DOJ explained that after conducting an investigation based on a worker’s complaint, the Civil Rights Division’s Immigrant and Employee Rights Section (IER) concluded that Anna Maria Oyster Bar had required a specific document—a Permanent Resident Card (green card)—from a worker to prove her citizenship status, even though she had already presented sufficient proof of her permission to work. IER also found that “the restaurant group’s treatment of this worker was part of a larger practice of requesting documents issued by the Department of Homeland Security, typically Permanent Resident Cards, from lawful permanent residents to prove their citizenship status.”
Under the terms of the settlement, Anna Maria Oyster Bar will pay a civil penalty of $12,684 to the United States, train its employees on the Immigration and Nationality Act’s (INA) requirements, revise its employment policies and be subject to DOJ monitoring.
Trailer Manufacturer
On November 25, 2024, DOJ announced that it secured a settlement agreement with Great Dane LLC (Great Dane) resolving DOJ’s determination that Great Dane’s plant in Wayne, Nebraska, violated the INA. For example, DOJ determined that even though the worker who filed the initial complaint provided sufficient information and documents to prove his permission to work (his state ID and unrestricted Social Security card), the company nevertheless wanted him to provide additional information from a Permanent Resident Card.
Under the terms of the settlement, DOJ said, the company will pay $218,000 in civil penalties to the United States and establish a backpay fund of $218,000 “to compensate victims of the company’s discriminatory practices, including those whom it failed to hire or who lost work because they could not comply with the company’s discriminatory document demands.” The agreement also requires Great Dane to train its personnel on the INA’s anti-discrimination requirements, revise its employment policies, and be subject to DOJ monitoring and reporting requirements.