Overzealous Hiring Check Costs Firm

It’s OK to ask job applicants--citizens and noncitizens alike--to show that they are eligible to work in the United States. Demanding too much information, however, can cost a company dearly.

Just ask Aztec Finishing Inc., a subsidiary of Azteca Productions. This week, the Commerce-based garment company agreed to pay more than $27,000 because it demanded that a prospective employee produce more proof than the law required.

The applicant, identified only as a Latino, will receive $5,000. The Justice Department, which investigated his complaint, will rake in an additional $22,600 in civil penalties.

According to the federal agency, an Aztec human resources clerk demanded that the applicant produce a work authorization document from the Immigration and Naturalization Service when he applied for a job with the firm last April.

The man had provided his driver’s license and Social Security card, which under federal law is sufficient evidence of a person’s identity and authorization to work in this country.

When the applicant returned the next day with documents proving that he was a citizen, the same clerk told him that all five openings had been filled.

Since 1996, federal law requires employers to check the employment eligibility of all new workers. But “some employers go beyond what is required and single out individuals because of their accent, appearance, name or citizenship status,” the agency said in announcing the settlement with Aztec.

A company official said the incident was “an inadvertent mistake.”