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ATLANTA JOURNAL CONSTITUTION TO PAY OVER $81,000

WASHINGTON, D.C.--The Atlanta Journal Constitution today agreed to correct its hiring practices and pay more than $80,000 in back pay and penalties to settle immigration related job discrimination charges in an agreement reached with the Justice Department. As part of the settlement, the company will hire two workers who were unlawfully denied jobs, pay the two $4,996.00 in back pay, correct its hiring policies, receive training from the Justice Department, and pay $76,925 in civil penalties to the U.S. government. "Today's settlement demonstrates that companies can and must maintain hiring practices that comply with all laws," said John Trasviña, Special Counsel. "It is the product of cooperation from a company that stepped forward to correct a problem when we discovered it."

The settlement stems from a November 1999 charge forwarded by the Atlanta District Office of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) to the Justice Department's Office of Special Counsel for Unfair Immigration Related Unfair Employment Practices. According to one of the complaints, Yolanda Hernandez, a naturalized U.S. citizen, was denied a mail room position after the company rejected her Social Security card and driver's license -- both of which were valid. She was then asked to present a U.S. passport or naturalization certificate as a condition of being hired. Under the law, the first two documents would have sufficed.

In the second case, the company refused to accept documents from and denied a job to Fartun Noor, another qualified and work authorized job applicant.

The Atlanta Journal Constitution is a division of Cox Enterprises, Inc.

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