The Justice Dept. announced yesterday that it settled an agreement with Triple H Services LLC, a North Carolina landscaping company, after a finding that it violated the Immigration and Nationality Act by discriminating against American workers. This is the second settlement to resolve a lawsuit based on Pres. Trump's 'Buy American, Hire American' executive order.
The settlement comes after the DOJ's Immigrant and Employee Rights Section conducted an investigation of the company's hiring practices in May 2017. During the investigation, the agency found that Triple H concealed job postings from American applicants who were using the states online services, closed the job application process early, and hired foreign workers through the H-2B visa program without first making the job posting accessible to American workers.
"Federal law prohibits employers from discriminating against U.S. workers in hiring because of their citizenship status," acting Assistant Attorney General John Gore said. "The department will continue to fight to ensure that U.S. workers are not disadvantaged because of their citizenship status."
Under the settlement, the North Carolina company, which also conducts business in five other states must pay up to $85,000 in back pay compensation to the affected U.S. workers, in addition to $15,600 in civil penalties. Triple H must also increase its efforts to recruit American workers for job openings, respond to all American applicants with expressed interest in job postings within three business days, and submit reports to the Justice Dept. and Labor Dept.
Additionally, the company promised to improve its employment policies in order to prevent discrimination going forward to current employees and possible applicants based on their immigration status, U.S. citizenship, and/or country of origin.
"I commend Triple H for its cooperation with the department and its willingness to undertake efforts to recruit U.S. workers that go well beyond the minimum requirements for participation in the H-2B visa worker program," Gore said.
For more on this story, see justice.gov.
