The Legal Aid Society of Mid-New York, Inc. and Pine Tree Legal Assistance in Maine work with the United States Department of Justice's Office of Special Counsel (OSC) for Immigration-Related Unfair Employment Discrimination to protect immigrant and citizen workers from being discriminated against by employers.
The Immigrant and Nationality Act's anti-discrimination provisions protect immigrant workers from the following types of employment discrimination:
- Discrimination on the basis of national origin (including not hiring or firing a worker based on his/her appearance, accent or place of birth)
- Discrimination on the basis of citizenship status (for example, having a "citizen-only" hiring practice)
- Discrimination on the basis of documentation of work authorization on the I-9 form (this is called "document abuse" and includes demanding more or different documentation than what is required by the I-9 legal process)
- Discrimination by act or threat of retaliation (including firing or discriminating against workers who assert their rights as legal workers)
For more information, contact Legal Aid Society of Mid-New York, Inc. at (845)256-9096 or (800) 804-8575, or contact the Office of Special Counsel directly via their worker or employer hotline. The OSC attempts to intervene in employer-worker disputes and resolve them informally.
Worker Hotline:
1-800-255-7688
1-800-237-2515(TDD)
Employer Hotline:
1-800-255-8155
1-800-362-2735(TDD)
Also see the Office of Special Counsel website for more information. This includes information for employers on how to avoid unfair practices.
For more information about other types of improper national origin discrimination, visit the Office of Civil Rights website. Find "Federal Protections Against National Origin Discrimination" pamphlets (.pdf files) in 17 languages.