NEW ORLEANS (Legal Newsline) — Barrios Street Realty Inc. has agreed to settle a case involving allegations it discriminated against U.S. employees, the Department of Justice has announced.
According to the department, Barrios Street Realty and its agent, Jorge Arturo Guerrero Rodriguez, failed to consider or improperly rejected 73 U.S. workers who had applied to be sheet metal roofers or laborers. The company allegedly then solicited foreign workers for the positions.
Refusing to consider a U.S. worker because of citizenship, which allegedly happened in this case, violates the H-2B regulations and the Immigration and Nationality Act’s anti-discrimination provision.
“Federal law prohibits employers from discriminating against U.S. workers in hiring,” said principal deputy assistant attorney general Vanita Gupta, head of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “The department is committed to identifying and combating discriminatory hiring preferences that impede the ability of U.S. workers to compete equally for employment.”
Barrios Street Realty will be forced to create a fund for $115,000 in back pay, compensating U.S. workers. The company will pay an additional $30,000 in civil penalties and remain subject to monitoring for three years.