A Hooters in Florida must provide back pay to a non-U.S. citizen worker. Here’s why
A Hooters restaurant in Florida will have to provide back pay to a non-U.S. citizen worker after the company reached an agreement with the Department of Justice on Monday while denying it violated any immigration laws.
The settlement requires Destin Wings, the company which operates a Hooters in Destin, Florida, to pay a $1,674 civil penalty to the federal government, provide back pay in the amount of $212 to the employee, train staff on an anti-discrimination law and be subjected to monitoring for three years.
The restaurant didn’t respond to a request for comment.
The department’s investigation began in August 2022 when the worker complained that Destin Wings refused to accept her valid documentation proving her permission to work and demanded additional documentation, the Department of Justice said Monday in a news release. Although she had permission to work in the United States, the department said, she was not able to obtain one of the documents that Destin Wings required because of her citizenship status.
U.S. law prohibits employers from asking for more documents than necessary because of a worker’s citizenship, immigration status or national origin. Employers must allow workers to present whatever acceptable documentation the workers choose and cannot reject valid documentation, the department said.
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“While employers are legally obligated to verify every new hire’s permission to work in the United States, they cannot discriminate based on the employee’s citizenship status or national origin in the process,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “The Civil Rights Division will continue to vigorously combat unlawful discrimination in the workplace and dismantle unnecessary obstacles to work.”
