The Department of Justice (DOJ) announced on September 12, 2024, that it secured a settlement agreement with SP Plus Corporation (SP Plus), a transportation and parking management company based in Chicago. The agreement resolves the DOJ’s determination that SP Plus discriminated against a worker based on her national origin by rejecting a valid document that showed her permission to work and requesting that she provide unnecessary documentation.
The DOJ Civil Rights Division’s Immigrant and Employee Rights Section (IER) concluded that SP Plus discriminated against a Temporary Protected Status (TPS) beneficiary based on her national origin. DOJ noted:
TPS beneficiaries have permission to work in the United States. They can get Employment Authorization Documents [EADs] that show employers their permission to work. Sometimes, the federal government extends these Employment Authorization Documents past the expiration date on the card. Instructions on how an employer can determine if an [EAD] has been extended by the federal government direct employers to look at the document’s category code and date of expiration.
In this case, the IER found that SP Plus unlawfully rejected the worker’s valid, extended EAD because she was born in the Bahamas rather than Haiti, the country through which she has TPS. Under the terms of the settlement, SP Plus will pay a civil penalty and offer reinstatement and back pay to the affected worker, DOJ said. The agreement also requires the company to train its personnel on the antidiscrimination requirements, revise its employment policies, and be subject to departmental monitoring.