UPS and Immigration-Related Discrimination Claims

Justice Department reaches a settlement with UPS

On April 18, 2022, The Department of Justice announced that it had reached a settlement with United Parcel Service Inc. (UPS). This settlement successfully resolving the Justice Department's claims that UPS violated the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) when it discriminated against a non-U.S. citizen by requesting him to present additional documents to prove his permission to work in the U.S. This request came after the individual already presented sufficient proof/ documents indicating his ability to work.

In a release from the DOJ's Office of Public Affairs, Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division said, "When checking an individual’s permission to work, employers cannot ask for more documents than necessary based on a worker’s citizenship status."

This department's investigation found that UPS discriminated against a newly hired lawful permanent resident of Jacksonville, Florida. UPS asked the individual for his Permanent Resident Card, as well as his "work visa" in order to prove his permission to work. This request came despite the fact that he had already shown his driver's license and unrestricted social security card, which is all that is legally required for one to display.

According to the DOJ's release, UPS requested these additional documents after getting a data entry error notification from the proprietary software program the company utilizes to verify worker's permission to work. After UPS received the error notification, the company immediately asked the worker to show additional documents, instead of simply checking for a data entry error, as UPS normally does when it receives such notifications for U.S. citizen workers.

The anti-discrimination provision of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) specifically prohibits four types of unlawful conduct including:

1. Unfair documentary practices, including asking for unnecessary documents or requesting a specific document to be presented to verify permission to work

2. Citizenship or Immigration status discrimination in hiring, firing and recruiting

3. National origin discrimination in hiring, firing and recruiting

4. Retaliation or intimidation

Under this settlement, UPS will now pay a civil penalty. UPS will also be required to train employees moving forward on how to properly handle notices about data entry errors.. Employees at UPS will now additionally be subject to department monitoring.

The Immigrant and Employee Rights Section (IER), in the Civil Rights Division, holds the critical responsibility of enforcing the anti-discrimination provision of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA).