TEG Staffing Inc., also known as Eastridge Workforce Solutions, reached a settlement agreement to resolve allegations that its Mira Mesa, Calif., office discriminated against work-authorized non-US citizens in violation of the Immigration and Nationality Act, the US Justice Department announced.

Under the terms of the settlement agreement, San Diego-based Eastridge will pay $175,000 in civil penalties, and among other provisions, will undergo department monitoring and review of its processes for verifying the work authorization of newly hired employees.

The department’s investigation found that from at least March 2014 until at least September 2015, Eastridge requested specific immigration documents from non-US citizens for the Form I-9 and E-Verify processes. In contrast, Eastridge allowed US citizens to present whichever valid documents they wanted to present to prove their work authorization. This violated the Immigration and Nationality Act, which dictates that all workers, including non-US citizens, must be allowed to choose whichever valid documentation they would like to present. 

“We are proud of our diverse workforce,” Eastridge said in a statement provided to Staffing Industry Analysts. “In fact, our company was founded, and is still owned, by people who immigrated to the US. The notion that we would somehow discriminate against immigrants is inconsistent with the history and founding of our company, and contrary to the spirit and values we have.”

Eastridge said there was no evidence the company ever intended to discriminate on any basis and that the Department of Justice had no evidence that any employee ever suffered any adverse impact.

“The company would have liked to disprove the DOJ’s allegations in court; the DOJ made it clear that the cost of litigating would be substantially more expensive than the cost to settle. So we made the business decision to settle,” the company stated.

“Staffing agencies and employers must comply with federal law to ensure they don’t discriminate against lawful, authorized U.S. workers,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Vanita Gupta, head of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “Workers who get a job through a staffing agency should not confront unfair and unlawful barriers to joining the workforce and contributing to our economy.”