Citizen may challenge employer over preference for noncitizens
About 50 years ago, the U.S. Supreme Court held that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 does not prohibit employment discrimination based on citizenship, except where citizenship discrimination has the purpose or effect of discriminating based on national origin. The discussion of citizenship discrimination in the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission fact sheet on national origin discrimination tracks that ruling.
A divided three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, however, recently ruled that a 19th century federal law that gives “all persons” the “same right” to contract “as is enjoyed by white citizens” prohibits discrimination in hiring against U.S. citizens based on their citizenship.
Click here to read the full article written by SCMV Shareholder Dan Eaton and published in The San Diego Union-Tribune.