Dive Brief:
- A human resources manager for a Bolingbrook, Ill., company was fired for refusing to sign off on hiring a man not permitted to work in the United States, according to claims in a lawsuit filed in Will County court, according an article at the Joliet Patch.
- Fired HR manager Queta Ramirez sued her former employer, Valid USA, after Valid, in 2012, bought Unique Mailing Services, a company Ramirez, 47, had worked for since 2002, the lawsuit said. Less than a year after purchasing Unique Mailing Systems, Valid terminated Ramirez, the paper reports.
- According to the suit, Ramirez “conscientiously refused to sign Federal DHS form I-9 for an individual whom she was informed was not legally permitted to work in the United States.” Her “termination was in retaliation for her lawful refusal to commit perjury on the I-9,” the lawsuit said.
Dive Insight:
Ramirez decided against signing off on the new hire, who was to fill a position as a mechanic, according to the lawsuit, “because she could not truthfully state that (his) documents appeared to be genuine and related to the employee named; nor could she truthfully state that to the best of (her) knowledge, (he) was authorized to work in the United States.”
While this case eventually will be resolved via the courts, retaliation is one of the emerging causes of discrimination lawsuits levied against employers. HR executives need to create an effective policy that can protect workers and avoid litigation, or at best provide a solid defense should a complaint land on the company doorstep from the EEOC.
