Georgia pecan supplier settles discrimination claim

Poulan Pecan has reached a settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice over claims the south Georgia supplier discriminated against immigrant workers by requiring them to produce more documentation to be hired than employees who were U.S. citizens.

The DOJ said the company, which had been under investigation since last year, violated the anti-discrimination provision of the Immigration and Nationality Act. Poulan Pecan will pay $500 in civil penalties and be subject to monitoring of its employment eligibility verification practices for one year, the agency said.

“Individuals should be treated equally during the employment eligibility verification process,” Gregory Friel, deputy assistant attorney general for the Civil Rights Division, said in a statement. “This means not placing additional requirements, documentary or otherwise, on individuals based on their citizenship status.”