Department of Justice (DOJ) investigators filed a lawsuit today against the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) Medical Center, saying that the center made “excessive demands” that recently hired, non-citizen employees verify that they were authorized to work in the United States.
“[T]he medical center engaged in a pattern or practice of subjecting newly hired non-U.S. citizens to excessive demands for documents issued by the Department of Homeland Security in order to verify and re-verify their employment eligibility,” DOJ said in a statement, “but did not require U.S. citizens to show any specific documentation.”
DOJ wants “a court order prohibiting future discrimination by the [UCSD Medical Center], monetary damages for any individuals harmed by the respondent’s actions, and civil penalties.”
Thomas E. Perez, Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, said that “all workers who are authorized to work in the United States have the right to work without encountering discrimination because of their immigration status or national origin.”
The DOJ’s Office of Special Counsel for Immigration-Related Unfair Employment Practices is handling the lawsuit.
