October

Effectively managing security is no accident. Smart companies consider security upfront, assess their options and make good business choices based on the nature of their business and the sensitivity of the information involved. It is essential to focus on the fundamentals of sound security as the FTC outlined in Protecting Personal Information: A Guide for Business. It is important to know the personal information you have in your files and on your computers, and you only store what you need for your business. You should have a plan for how you will protect your information stored, how to properly dispose of information and have a incident response plan in the event of a breach. The FTC has resources including an online tutorial to help you think through how those principles apply to your business.

The Office of the Chief Administrative Hearing Officer (OCAHO) has ordered Hartmann Studio, Inc. to pay a fine of over $600,000, which is one of the largest fines that it has ever assessed for I-9 form violations not involving the knowing employment of undocumented workers. The violations were all substantive paperwork violations - the employer failing to sign Section 2 of the I-9 form, failing to timely prepare or present I-9 forms, failing to ensure employees properly completed Section 1 of the I-9 form, and failing to properly complete Section 3 of the I-9 form. ICE sought over $800,000 in penalties based upon an error rate of approximately 90%. However, OCAHO determined Hartmann 's conduct was not as bad as employers in three other recent cases and lowered the amount.

A large clothing retailer recently entered into a settlement agreement with the Department of Justice (DOJ) following an allegation that the company discriminated against a non-US citizen in violation of federal immigration laws, including the Immigration and Nationality Act. The employer required the employee to produce a green card as part of the I-9 process. As a reminder, employers are not permitted to ask for a specific form of identification when collecting I-9 's. Employees can choose from the available options on the form, and employers must take what they get. The DOJ settlement includes a hefty back-pay award and DOJ monitoring of the company 's employment verification practices for the next two years. Companies should reevaluate and monitor their I-9 verification and re-verification practices.