Justice accuses La. Crane of immigrant applicant discrimination

Louisiana Crane, headquartered in Eunice and one of Acadiana’s Top 50 private companies, is accused of discrimination against immigrant job applicants.
The company, through a spokesman at an Austin, Texas law office, says it is committed to hiring legal workers.
The Justice Department in a news release claims the company violated the law by allegedly creating hurdles for immigrants during the employment verification process because of their citizenship status.
Specifically, the complaint alleges that, from at least January 2013 until at least September 2013, Louisiana Crane required employees who it believed to be non-U.S. citizens to present specific documentation for the Form I-9 and/or E-Verify, but allowed believed to be U.S. citizens the flexibility to present a variety of documents.
The INA’s anti-discrimination provision prohibits employers from discriminating against people with permission to work in the United States because of their citizenship status.
“We understand this may have been a referral from USCIS (U.S. Customs and Immigration Service) for further inquiry based upon our participation in the E-Verify program,” Kevin Lashus, in the law firm Jackson Lewis, said.
“The law protects people who have permission to work from facing discriminatory obstacles during employment eligibility verification,” said Molly Moran, Acting Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “It is important that all people who have permission to work in the United States face an equal playing field when proving their work authorization.”
In his statement, Lashus said, “Louisiana Crane is committed to verification compliance, hiring those folks authorized to work in the U.S. and, frankly, hiring as many folks as we need to get our work done and doing so in a non discriminatory fashion.
Louisiana Crane was listed at No. 10 on a July 2013 compilation by The Independent of Lafayette of the region’s Top 50 private companies.
The firm was reported as having 1,950 employees and having 2013 revenue of $243 million. Its 2012 revenue was reported as $165 million.