Nevada Cab Companies Settle Immigration Discrimination Case: $445K Penalty

DOJ, Oct. 20, 2015 - "The Justice Department announced today that it reached an agreement with Nevada Yellow Cab Corporation, Nevada Checker Cab Corporation, and Nevada Star Cab Corporation – three Las Vegas, Nevada, taxicab companies that collectively operate under the umbrella company “Yellow Checker Star Transportation Company” (YCS). The agreement resolves claims that YCS discriminated against work-authorized immigrants because of their citizenship status.

The Justice Department’s investigation found that YCS violated the Immigration and Nationality Act’s (INA) anti-discrimination provision by requiring non-U.S. citizens, but not similarly-situated U.S. citizens, to present additional and unnecessary documentation to prove their employment eligibility. The INA’s anti-discrimination provision prohibits employers from placing additional burdens on work-authorized employees during the hiring and employment eligibility verification process because of their citizenship status or national origin.

Under the terms of the settlement agreement, YCS will pay $445,000 in civil penalties to the United States, place print advertisements in a monthly trade publication for a period of six non-consecutive months advising employees of the anti-discrimination provision of the INA, undergo monitoring for three years, and train its employees on the INA’s anti-discrimination provision.

“Employers are not permitted to impede the employment opportunities of work-authorized immigrants by imposing additional and unnecessary documentary requirements upon them,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Vanita Gupta, head of the Civil Rights Division."