Source: United States Attorneys General 1
The Justice Department announced today that it has secured a settlement agreement with Epik Solutions, a California technology recruiting company, to resolve Epik Solutions’ violations of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) by preferring to recruit foreign H-1B visa holders over U.S. workers.
This settlement is the first since the department re-launched its Protecting U.S. Workers Initiative to enforce the law against companies that unlawfully discriminate against American workers in favor of foreign visa workers. The company will pay $71,916 in civil penalties to the United States, undergo training, revise its employment policies, and refrain from placing job advertisements that unlawfully exclude U.S. workers from employment opportunities.
“A top priority of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division is protecting American workers from unlawful discrimination in favor of foreign visa workers,” said Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Harmeet K. Dhillon. “Companies engaging in such discrimination are on notice that the days of the federal government looking the other way on American workforce protection are over.”
The public can call Immigrant and Employee Rights (IER) Section free hotline at 1-800-255-7688 for workers or at 1-800-255-8155 for employers (1-800-237-2515, TTY for hearing impaired) for informal assistance; sign up for a live webinar or watch an on-demand presentation; email IER@usdoj.gov; or visit www.justice.gov/ier.